Blue Origin New Shepard Launch Pad in Texas

Hotels Near the Blue Origin Corn Ranch in West Texas

Blue Origin New Shepard Launch Pad in Texas. Blue Origin successfully completed its 24th New Shepard flight and 13th payload mission today from Launch Site One in West Texas.

Those traveling to the Blue Origin New Shepard launch pad will find the closest accommodations at Van Horn, Texas. Van Horn Hotels Reservations here

The small space port at this site serves as the launch pad for the Blue Origin New Shepard Sub Orbital Space Craft. The Corn Ranch is owned by Jeff Bezos, who owns Blue Origin, and is located about 20 miles north of Van Horn, TX. Van Horn, TX is located in Southwest Texas near the Mexican border and about 121 miles southeast of El Paso, TX.

The New Shepard Sub Orbital Space Craft launch pad has been in developmental stage since 2006 and employs about 50 people at the Texas location.

The New Shepard Space Craft Space Ride

The New Shepard Space Craft is named in honor of Allan Shepard, the first US astronaut to launch into space. Blue Origin launched its first civilian space ride in the summer of 2021, and has schedule several future flights as very expensive tourist trips that reach sub orbital hights and return to earth within minutes. The launch vehicle which is similar to an airplane, takes off vertically strapped to a rocket, and lands as an airplane would at the same location as the launch. Hotels Near the Corn Ranch, Van Horn, TX.

Since the vehicle does not leave the earth's atmosphere, there is no re-entry friction that would cause the intense heat that plagues returning outer space vehicles. The vehicle reaches an altitude where occupants experience weightlessness for several seconds and then basically glides back to earth.

Development of the New Shepherd.

The first development vehicle of the New Shepard development program was a sub-scale demonstration vehicle named Goddard, built in 2006 following earlier engine development efforts by Blue Origin. Goddard made its first flight on 13 November 2006.

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