RSS First Step
RSS First Step is a New Shepard space capsule, built and operated by American spaceflight company Blue Origin. It is the third New Shepard capsule to fly to space, and the first to fly passengers. Its first flight was the NS-14 mission, which reached an altitude of on 14 January 2021.
History
RSS First Step is the third New Shepard capsule built by Blue Origin, and the first designed to carry passengers. It flew to space for the first time on 14 January 2021, during the NS-14 spaceflight. NS-14 also served as the maiden flight of the NS4 propulsion module. The following flight, NS-15, which was also flown uncrewed by First Step and NS4, tested boarding and deboarding in what Blue Origin called an "astronaut operational exercise."First Step flew Blue Origin's first crewed flight on 20 July 2021, carrying founder Jeff Bezos and three other passengers to space. This made Texas the fourth state to launch humans into space, after Florida, California, and New Mexico. As of November 2022, it has flown five subsequent crewed spaceflights, carrying a total of 31 people into space, including one twice.
The New Shepard fleet was grounded from September 2022 until December 2023 due to a failure during the NS-23 mission. The capsule used during the mission, RSS H.G. Wells, managed to abort successfully, while the booster was destroyed. The next mission NS-24 and the next crewed mission NS-25 took place following an investigation.
Flights
| Mission | Launch date | Landing date | Crew | Duration | Remarks | Outcome |
| NS-14 | 14 January 2021 | 14 January 2021 | Uncrewed | ~10 minutes | Uncrewed test flight. Maiden flight of NS4 propulsion module. | |
| NS-15 | 14 April 2021 | 14 April 2021 | Uncrewed | ~10 minutes | Uncrewed test flight. Passenger process test conducted. Four Blue Origin employees serve as stand-in passengers. | |
| NS-16 | 20 July 2021, 13:11 | 20 July 2021, 13:21 | Jeff Bezos |  |