Blue Origin's New Shepard Rocket Lands Again: 2nd Test Flight Photos

New Shepard Soars Again

Blue Origin

On Jan. 22, 2016, the private spaceflight company Blue Origin launched and landed its New Shepard rocket and crew capsule in a successful test flight that also reused a space-flown rocket. You can watch the launch in this amazing video. See images from the test flight here.

Liftoff!

Blue Origin

The New Shepard launched on Jan. 22 from Blue Origins West Texas proving grounds, the same place where it would ultimately land at the mission's end. This same New Shepard booster launched on a previous test flight on Nov. 23, 2015. See how that first flight went here.

New Shepard Explained

by Karl Tate, Infographics Artist

Blue Origin's New Shepard consists of two parts: a booster for launch, and a 6-seat crew capsule for passengers. See how New Shepard flights will work here.

Almost There ...

Blue Origin

Another view of Blue Origin's New Shepard booster as it makes a smooth landing at a West Texas pad during a launch and landing test flight on Jan. 22, 2016. This image is a still from a Blue Origin video, which you can see here.

Drogue Chutes Away!

Blue Origin

Drogue parachutes extract the three main parachutes from Blue Origin's New Shepard crew capsule during its return to Earth in a Jan. 22, 2016 test flight. See how the New Shepard flight went here.

Main Parachutes Deploy

Blue Origin

Blue Origin's New Shepard crew capsule hangs suspended under its three main parachutes as it approaches Earth during a successful launch and landing test flight over West Texas on Jan. 22, 2016. See how the New Shepard flight went here.

Home Again

Blue Origin

The crew capsule for Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft makes a soft landing with parachutes and retro rockets in West Texas during a Jan. 22, 2016 test flight. See how the New Shepard flight went here.

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Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.