Blue Origin to pause New Shepard flights for at least two years

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin announced it will pause its New Shepard flights and shift resources to further accelerate development of the company’s human lunar capabilities. “The decision reflects Blue Origin’s commitment to the nation’s goal of returning to the Moon and establishing a permanent, sustained lunar presence. New Shepard is the first reusable spaceflight system to vertically land and has flown 38 times and carried 98 humans above the Karman line to date. New Shepard has launched more than 200 scientific and research payloads from students, academia, research organizations, and NASA. This consistent and reliable performance, combined with an exceptional customer experience, has resulted in a multi-year customer backlog,” the company stated. Publicly traded companies in the space launch and services area include Rocket Lab (RKLB), ViaSat (VSAT), EchoStar (SATS), AST Space Mobile (ASTS), Voyager Technologies (VOYG), Intuitive Machines (LUNR), FireFly Aerospace (FLY) and Virgin Galactic (SPCE).