Blue Origin employees celebrate on the landing pad in front of New Shepard following its historic first landing in 2015.

Affordable Access to Space

New Shepard Payloads

Designed With Researchers in Mind

New Shepard offers flights to space over 100 kilometers (62 miles) for payloads inside our cabin or with direct exposure to the space environment. With minutes of high-quality microgravity or partial-G, access to the Kármán Line, and gentle return of payload, New Shepard is transforming access to space research.

A set of payload lockers in various sizes to house science and research experiments on New Shepard.

RESEARCH

Payloads for R&D

From fluid physics and gravitational biology to high altitude science and space as a technology testbed, New Shepard serves a wide community of researchers. With a range of government grants available, taking your lab to space is now easier than ever.

EDUCATION

Payloads for Students

Schools around the world are now developing their own space programs. From STEM outreach with youth to graduate level research, our Mini Payloads offer students a way to get hands-on experience with the full lifecycle of a space project.

COMMERCIAL

Payloads for Business

Spaceflight now moves at the speed of business, with the ability to move from idea to flight in a matter of months. Use New Shepard for risk reduction, rapid proof of concept, or early investor milestones.

New Shepard next to the launch tower at the moment of ignition. Fiery exhaust expels from the bottom of the booster. Blue sky appears in the background.

News

New Shepard Successfully Flies 8 NASA Research & Technology Payloads to Space

A diagram of the interior of New Shepard's crew capsule.

INSIDE THE CAPSULE

Standardized Stacks Provide Easy Payload Support

The Crew Capsule is designed to accommodate up to six payload stacks with as many as 36 individual Payload Lockers. Future vehicles can pair stacks with seats to support human-tended payload flights, allowing researchers to conduct their own hands-on work in space.

UNIQUE SYSTEMS & SOFTWARE

Flight-Ready Interfaces Make It Simple

As described in our Payload User’s Guide below, payloads are supported by our custom avionics and software, including flight-ready solutions for:

  • Robust control systems

  • Data storage

  • Electrical power

  • Vehicle telemetry

  • Integrated avionics and desktop software for programming in your lab, so you can develop and implement complex experiments faster than ever before

Payload Offerings

  • Single Locker

  • Double Locker

  • Full Stack

  • Mini Payload

  • External PM Payload

  • Partial G-Mission

  • Custom

Custom Solutions

If our standard interfaces don’t meet your needs, we’re happy to support a wide range of custom interfaces and operations.

Highlighted Payloads