Blue Origin Expands New Shepard Fleet

Blue Origin is adding three new New Shepard launch systems and eyeing passenger flights beyond West Texas.

On September 28, 2025, Blue Origin confirmed an expansion of its New Shepard suborbital program: the company will build three additional launch systems and expects the first of the new spacecraft to fly before its current two-ship fleet retires at the end of 2027.

The news marks a notable step for U.S. commercial space tourism. New Shepard—Blue Origin’s reusable suborbital vehicle—has flown dozens of crewed and research missions from the company’s West Texas site. The planned replacements aim to keep that cadence while modernizing the fleet.

What the Blue Origin New Shepard expansion means

Blue Origin said it’s not only refreshing hardware but also considering expanding passenger flight services beyond its West Texas base. That could signal new launch sites or partnerships in the coming years, though the company did not commit to locations or timelines beyond the 2027 fleet retirement window.

The firm’s announcement frames the program as an iterative upgrade rather than a dramatic shift: the three new launch systems should preserve New Shepard’s suborbital tourism and research role while providing newer vehicles for customers and payloads.

Blue Origin New Shepard expansion: three new launch systems; first replacement expected before the two-ship fleet retires end of 2027.

Operationally, expanding to more vehicles can increase flight frequency and resilience, and opening flights outside West Texas could broaden market access for space tourists and researchers. Blue Origin has not released detailed specifications, crew capacity changes, or a precise test schedule for the new systems.

For flyers and industry watchers, the timeline is the headline: expect staged test flights of replacement vehicles ahead of the current fleet’s planned retirement in late 2027, with further announcements on new sites or services to follow.