RSS First Step explained

RSS First Step (Reusable Space Ship First Step) is a New Shepard space capsule, built and operated by American spaceflight company Blue Origin.^[1] 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 on 14 January 2021.^[2]

History

RSS First Step is the third New Shepard capsule built by Blue Origin, and the first designed to carry passengers. It flew to space for the first time on 14 January 2021, during the NS-14 spaceflight. NS-14 also served as the maiden flight of the NS4 propulsion module.^[3] The following flight, NS-15, which was also flown uncrewed by First Step and NS4, tested boarding and deboarding in what Blue Origin called an "astronaut operational exercise."^[4]

First Step flew Blue Origin's first crewed flight on 20 July 2021, carrying founder Jeff Bezos and three other passengers to space.^[5] This made Texas the fourth state to launch humans into space,^[6] after Florida, California, and New Mexico. As of November 2022, it has flown five subsequent crewed spaceflights, carrying a total of 31 people into space, including one (Evan Dick) twice.

The New Shepard fleet was grounded from September 2022 until December 2023 due to a failure during the NS-23 mission. The capsule used during the mission, RSS H.G. Wells, managed to abort successfully, while the booster was destroyed. The next mission NS-24 (uncrewed) and the next crewed mission NS-25 took place following an investigation.^[7]

Flights

Mission	Launch date (UTC)	Landing date (UTC)	Crew	Duration	Remarks	Outcome
NS-14	14 January 2021	14 January 2021	Uncrewed	~10 minutes	Uncrewed test flight. Maiden flight of NS4 propulsion module.
NS-15	14 April 2021	14 April 2021	Uncrewed	~10 minutes	Uncrewed test flight. Passenger process test conducted. Four Blue Origin employees serve as stand-in passengers.
NS-16	20 July 2021,13:11	20 July 2021,13:21		10 minutes, 18 seconds	First crewed flight of the New Shepard vehicle and first crewed spaceflight from Texas. Carried Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and three other passengers.[8]
NS-18	13 October 2021,14:49	13 October 2021,14:59		10 minutes, 17 seconds	Space tourism mission. Second crewed flight of New Shepard. Carried actor William Shatner and three other paying passengers.[9]
NS-19	11 December 2021,15:00	11 December 2021,15:10		10 minutes, 13 seconds	Space tourism mission. Third crewed flight of New Shepard. First fully crewed New Shepard spaceflight. Carried Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of Alan Shepard, for whom the vehicle is named after, football player and Good Morning America host Michael Strahan, and four other paying passengers.[10]
NS-20	31 March 2022,13:57	31 March 2022,14:07		10 minutes, 4 seconds	Space tourism mission. Fourth crewed flight of New Shepard. Comedian Pete Davidson was originally expected to be on board, but was unable to fly due to a launch date change. Davidson was replaced by New Shepard chief architect Gary Lai. Five other paying passengers were on board.[11]
NS-21	4 June 2022, 13:25	4 June 2022, 13:35		10 minutes, 5 seconds[12]	Space tourism mission. Fifth crewed flight of New Shepard. Crew included NS-19 crew member Evan Dick, and undersea explorer Victor Vescovo.[13]
NS-22	4 August 2022, 13:56	4 August 2022, 14:06		10 minutes, 22 seconds	Space tourism mission. Sixth crewed flight of New Shepard. Crew included first Portuguese person and first Egyptian person in space.[14]
NS-25	19 May 2024, 14:35	19 May 2024, 14:45		9 minutes, 53 seconds	Space tourism mission. Seventh crewed flight of New Shepard. Crew included Ed Dwight, the oldest person to reach space.[15]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Burghardt . Thomas . 2021-01-14 . Blue Origin tests New Shepard capsule upgrades on NS-14 mission . 2022-04-03 . NASASpaceFlight.com . en-US.
2. Web site: 2021-01-14 . Blue Origin's New Shepard spaceship aces uncrewed rehearsal for crewed space trips . 2022-04-03 . GeekWire . en-US.
3. Web site: Mission NS-14 . 2022-04-03 . Blue Origin . en.
4. Web site: Sheetz . Michael . 2021-04-14 . Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launches and lands rocket New Shepard, as it prepares to launch people . 2022-04-03 . CNBC . en.
5. Web site: Roulette . Joey . 2021-07-20 . Blue Origin successfully sends Jeff Bezos and three others to space and back . 2022-04-03 . The Verge . en.
6. Web site: Leinfelder . Andrea . 2021-07-20 . With Jeff Bezos on board, Blue Origin launches first crewed spaceflight from West Texas . 2022-04-03 . Houston Chronicle . en-US.
7. Web site: Blue Origin rocket malfunctions, triggers dramatic but safe abort for unpiloted New Shepard capsule . 2022-11-23 . www.cbsnews.com . 12 September 2022 . en-US.
8. News: 2021-07-20 . Jeff Bezos launches to space aboard New Shepard rocket ship . en-GB . BBC News . 2022-04-03.
9. Web site: Blue Origin successfully and safely completes second human flight to space and back . 2022-04-03 . Blue Origin . en.
10. Web site: Blue Origin Completes Third Human Spaceflight . 2022-04-03 . Blue Origin . en.
11. Web site: Blue Origin's 20th Mission to Space . 2022-04-03 . Blue Origin . en.
12. Blue Origin . blueorigin . 1533088492355567616 . Official launch time was 8:25:02 AM CDT / 13:25:02 UTC. Capsule landing occurred at 8:35:07 AM CDT / 13:35:07 UTC. . 4 June 2022 . 4 June 2022.
13. Web site: New Shepard Mission NS-21 to Fly Six Customer Astronauts, Including First Mexican-Born Woman to Visit Space . 2022-05-09 . www.spaceref.com .
14. Web site: First Egyptian and Portuguese Astronauts to join Dude Perfect Cofounder on New Shepard's 22nd Flight . 2022-07-25 . Blue Origin . en-US.
15. Web site: New Shepard's 25th Mission Includes America's First Black Astronaut Candidate . 2024-04-04 . Blue Origin . en-US.