On September 18, 2025, Blue Origin celebrated the successful launch of its NS-35 mission from Launch Site One in West Texas. This uncrewed flight carried more than 40 scientific and educational payloads into suborbital space, soaring beyond the 100-kilometer Kármán Line before making a safe return to Earth. The 35th New Shepard mission highlights Blue Origin’s ongoing advancements in reusable spaceflight and its dedication to fostering research opportunities and student engagement in microgravity experiments.
Pioneering Scientific Payloads and Educational Initiatives
The NS-35 mission’s manifest featured a diverse array of experiments, all designed to leverage several precious minutes of microgravity. Research teams capitalized on these unique conditions to investigate material durability, test advanced imaging systems, and observe biological processes in a weightless environment. These vital studies will contribute to future spacecraft design, breakthroughs in medical science, and broader space exploration efforts. A particularly inspiring aspect of the mission was the inclusion of 24 student experiments from NASA’s TechRise Student Challenge, offering school teams an extraordinary chance to conduct their own space-based investigations. Additionally, thousands of postcards from Blue Origin’s “Club for the Future” program were flown, aiming to spark a passion for space in younger generations.
Remarkable Technical Flight Profile and Historic Significance
The New Shepard system once again proved its reliability as a reusable space vehicle. Its booster executed a precise powered descent and vertical landing approximately 2 miles downrange, just 7.5 minutes after lift-off. The capsule followed suit, gently landing under parachutes around 10 minutes post-launch. This mission successfully traversed the Kármán Line, the internationally recognized boundary of space at 100 kilometers altitude. Notably, NS-35 served as the final operational flight for the RSS H.G. Wells capsule in its payload-carrying configuration. Moving forward, the capsule will be honorably retired and repurposed as a display item, continuing its legacy by supporting non-flight test operations.