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NEW
LAUNCH OF BLUE ORIGIN’S NEW SHEPARD-15 (NS-15), Apr 14, 2021, West Texas, 11:15 am ET
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As of today (April 13, 2021), Blue Origin is targeting the next launch of its New Shepard reusable, suborbital rocket for 10:15 am Central Time (11:15 am Eastern) tomorrow, April 14, at its launch site in West Texas.
New Shepard is designed to take people on 10 minute suborbital rides above the threshold that some use to delineate between air and space — 100 kilometers — and back to Earth.
No people have yet flown on New Shepard, which is named after Alan Shepard, the first American to make a spaceflight, which also was suborbital, on May 5, 1961. No person will be aboard this time either, only the test dummy Mannequin Skywalker.
But Blue Origin will get one step closer to launching people by having company employees board the capsule and conduct tests before launch. They will then exit the capsule, it will launch and land, and after landing they will reenter and practice hatch opening and other tests.
Blue Origin will provide a livestream beginning one hour before launch (blueorigin.com).
These launches often are delayed by minutes, hours, or days due to technical or weather issues. Follow @blueorigin on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.