Blue Origin plans to put focus to develop its human lunar capabilities, so it will not send tourists to space for at least the next two years. That means we won’t see any New Shepard launch for a long time. Blue Origin is one of the companies selected by NASA to develop human landing systems for its Artemis program, along with SpaceX. Specifically, it will operate the landers for the Artemis III and Artemis V missions.
The company used to be originally contracted to build the human landing system that will transfer astronauts from NASA Gateway station in the South Pole region of the moon for the Artemis V mission. But last year, NASA asked Blue Origin design an alternative lander for Artemis III after SpaceX experienced delays due to Starship tests fail. Artemis III is expected to be the program’s first crewed moon landing mission, and the Trump administration wants it to happen before the end of the president’s term.
New Shepard takes tourists into suborbital space, where they can experience a few minutes of weightlessness before the spacecraft returns to Earth. Jeff Bezos was one of the passengers New Shepard’s first tourist trip back in 2021. Since then, it has flown and landed 37 more times and carried 98 passengers to the Karman line, including Katy Perry and William Shatner.









