Blue Origin launches 38th New Shepard flight into space

Blue Origin successfully launched its 38th New Shepard flight into space on Thursday. 

The flight took off from West Texas before landing safely roughly 10 minutes later. 

“We just completed our 38th flight of the New Shepard program and the first of 2026,” Blue Origin wrote on its website. “New Shepard has now flown 98 humans (92 individuals) into space.”

Blue Origin said the crew of New Shepard Mission NS-38 includes Tim Drexler, a helicopter and airline pilot and former CEO of Ace Asphalt; Linda Edwards, a retired board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist and two-time breast cancer survivor; Alain Fernandez, an international real estate developer; Alberto Gutiérrez, an entrepreneur and founder of Civitatis, a travel tour and activities platform; Jim Hendren, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and former F-15 fighter pilot; and Laura Stiles, the director for the New Shepard Launch Operations and Training organization. 

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“As we enter 2026, we’re focused on continuing to deliver transformational experiences for our customers through the proven capability and reliability of New Shepard,” said Phil Joyce, the senior vice president of New Shepard. “We are grateful for our astronaut customers who put their trust in our team to bring this experience into reality.” 

Blue Origin said New Shepard is named after Alan Shepard, who was the first American in space. The program has completed 37 missions and last launched Dec. 20, 2025. 

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“New Shepard is Blue Origin’s fully reusable, suborbital rocket system built for human flight from the beginning. During the 11-minute journey, astronauts soar past the Kármán line (100 km/62 miles), the internationally recognized boundary of space, experiencing several minutes of weightlessness and witnessing life-changing views of Earth. The vehicle is fully autonomous — there are no pilots,” according to Blue Origin. 

Blue Origin’s foundation Club for the Future also said, “Today’s NS-38 mission will carry more than 20,000 postcards to space, including personal messages that represent who we are, where we come from, and our dreams for the future.”