Blue Origin has announced a new suborbital spaceflight of its New Shepard rocket, set for no earlier than January 28 at 11 a.m. Eastern time from its test site in West Texas. This mission will deliver 30 payloads—none passengers—to explore lunar gravity simulation capabilities. Unlike previous flights, the New Shepard crew capsule will spin using reaction control thrusters to mimic lunar gravity, providing up to two minutes of simulated lunar conditions for the payloads. This is far more than the ~20 seconds offered by traditional suborbital vehicles.
The mission includes 29 payloads inside the capsule and one outside the booster to experience space environment exposure. Payloads focus on in-situ resource utilization, dust mitigation, advanced habitation systems, sensors, small spacecraft technologies, and entry/ descent/ landing systems. Most are from NASA centers, with some from Honeybee Robotics.
Dave Limp, Blue Origin CEO, emphasized that this marks a new approach to lunar gravity research, potentially reducing costs and accelerating advancements for NASA and other Lunar tech providers. The company has been developing this capability since 2021, with NASA funding and interest in expanding its applications beyond just lunar exploration.
Source: https://spacenews.com/new-shepard-flight-to-demonstrate-lunar-gravity