Vostok 2 was a Soviet space mission which carried cosmonaut Gherman Titov into orbit for a full day on August 6, 1961, to study the effects of a more prolonged period of weightlessness on the human body. Titov orbited the Earth over 17 times, exceeding the single orbit of Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1 − as well as the suborbital spaceflights of American astronauts Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom aboard their respective Mercury-Redstone 3 and 4 missions. Titov's number of orbits and flight time would not be surpassed by an American astronaut until Gordon Cooper's Mercury-Atlas 9 spaceflight in May 1963.
Blue Origin Enterprises, L.P. is an American space technology company headquartered in Kent, Washington. The company operates the suborbital New Shepard rocket and the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket. In addition to producing engines for its own rockets, Blue Origin supplies engines for other vehicles, including United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur. It is also working on the Blue Moon human lunar lander for NASA's Artemis program, the Blue Ring spacecraft platform, and the Orbital Reef space station in partnership with other organizations.
A launch escape system (LES) or launch abort system (LAS) is a crew-safety system connected to a space capsule. It is used in the event of a critical emergency to quickly separate the capsule from its launch vehicle in case of an emergency requiring the abort of the launch, such as an impending explosion. The LES is typically controlled by a combination of automatic rocket failure detection, and a manual activation for the crew commander's use. The LES may be used while the launch vehicle is on the launch pad, or during its ascent. Such systems are usually of three types:
New Shepard is a fully reusable sub-orbital launch vehicle developed for space tourism by Blue Origin. The vehicle is named after Alan Shepard, who became the first American to travel into space and the fifth person to walk on the Moon. The vehicle is capable of vertical takeoff and landings. Additionally, it is also capable of carrying humans and customer payloads into a sub-orbital trajectory.
Crew Dragon C205 is a Crew Dragon capsule manufactured and built by SpaceX. It completed its only flight on January 19, 2020, with the Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test mission where the capsule detached from the Falcon 9 B1046 booster at max q using the SuperDraco abort thrusters. This was done to test the functionality of the abort thrusters in an operational rocket launch.
Blue Origin NS-16 was a sub-orbital spaceflight mission operated by Blue Origin which flew on 20 July 2021. The mission was the sixteenth flight of the company's New Shepard integrated launch vehicle and spacecraft, and its first crewed flight. It carried into space American billionaire and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark, pilot and Mercury 13 member Wally Funk, and Dutch student Oliver Daemen. The flight commenced from Blue Origin's Corn Ranch sub-orbital launch site in West Texas aboard the third flight of New Shepard booster NS4 and the spacecraft RSS First Step, both having previously flown on NS-14 and NS-15 earlier in the year.
RSS First Step is a New Shepard space capsule, built and operated by American spaceflight company Blue Origin. It is the third New Shepard capsule to fly to space, and the first to fly passengers. Its first flight was the NS-14 mission, which reached an altitude of 107 km (66 mi) on 14 January 2021.
Polaris Dawn was a private crewed spaceflight operated by SpaceX on behalf of Shift4 CEO Jared Isaacman, the first of three planned missions in the Polaris program. Launched 10 September 2024 as the 14th crewed orbital flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, Isaacman and his crew of three — Scott Poteet, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon — flew in an elliptic orbit that took them 1,400 kilometers (870 mi) away from Earth, the farthest anyone has been since NASA's Apollo program. They passed through parts of the Van Allen radiation belt to study the health effects of space radiation and spaceflight on the human body. Later in the mission, the crew performed the first commercial spacewalk.
Blue Origin NS-21 was a sub-orbital spaceflight mission, operated by Blue Origin, which launched on 4 June 2022 using the New Shepard rocket. It was Blue Origin's fifth crewed flight, and twenty-first overall to reach space.
Blue Origin NS-23 was an uncrewed sub-orbital spaceflight mission of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, which launched on September 12, 2022. The booster failed during max q about a minute after launch, triggering the launch escape system which removed the capsule from the booster. The capsule landed successfully, while the booster was destroyed upon impact with the ground.
Blue Origin NS-24 was an uncrewed sub-orbital spaceflight mission of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, which launched on December 19, 2023. It was New Shepard's first flight in over a year since the failure of Blue Origin NS-23, and was Blue Origin's 24th overall flight to go into space.
Blue Origin NS-17 was an uncrewed sub-orbital spaceflight mission of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, which launched on 26 August 2021. It was New Shepards 4th flight in 2021. It was also Blue Origin's 17th overall flight to go into space.
Blue Origin NS-15 was an uncrewed sub-orbital spaceflight mission of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, which launched on April 14, 2021. It was New Shepards 2nd flight in 2021 and Blue Origin's 15th overall flight to go into space.
Blue Origin NS-25 was a sub-orbital spaceflight mission, operated by Blue Origin, which was launched on May 19, 2024, using the New Shepard rocket.
Blue Origin NS-26 was a sub-orbital spaceflight mission, operated by Blue Origin, launched on August 29, 2024, using the New Shepard rocket.
Blue Origin NS-27 was an uncrewed sub-orbital spaceflight mission, operated by Blue Origin, launched on October 23, 2024 using the New Shepard rocket. Previously, an October 7 launch attempt was called off after rocket issues and a subsequent attempt on October 13 foiled by a GPS issue.
RSS Kármán Line is a New Shepard space capsule, built and operated by American spaceflight company Blue Origin. It is the fourth New Shepard capsule to fly to space, and is slated to be the second to fly passengers, after RSS First Step. The capsule's first uncrewed flight was the NS-27 mission on 23 October 2024, which was also the maiden flight of New Shepard booster NS5.
Blue Origin NS-29 is an upcoming sub-orbital spaceflight mission, operated by Blue Origin which was planned to be launched on January 28, 2025 using the New Shepard rocket. The first launch attempt on January 28 2025 scrubbed due to inclement weather and an avionics issue on the booster.
