Blue Origin has rescheduled a long-delayed rocket launch from West Texas that was originally due to lift off in late August.
The spaceflight company, owned by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has become famous for the brief trips to the edge of space it offers to customers on its New Shepard spacecraft. This time, though, Blue Origin announced it is transporting not people, but more than 40 scientific and research payloads intended for testing in zero-gravity.
Blue Origin made big news earlier in 2025 when it selected some big names, including pop star Katy Perry and broadcast journalist Gayle King, to take part in an all-women spaceflight in April. The upcoming mission will be the New Shepard’s fourth spaceflight since that headline-grabbing launch, and first since then without any people on board.
But it’s far from the first New Shepard flight to prioritize science experiments over cosmic joyrides more than 60 miles high.
Here’s everything to know about Blue Origin’s next New Shepard mission, known as NS-35 since it’s the spacecraft’s 35th launch overall.
When is the next Blue Origin rocket launch?
Blue Origin plans to launch its New Shepard at 8 a.m. CT (9 a.m. ET) Thursday, Sept. 18.
The launch window represents the first attempt for Blue Origin to get its NS-35 mission off the ground since liftoff was last scrubbed Aug. 26. The company was originally working toward an Aug. 23 launch before issues with the booster prompted two delays in a row.
Where are Blue Origin launches?
Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launches take place from the company’s private ranch facility known as Launch Site One. The facility is located more than 140 miles east of El Paso near the U.S.-Mexico border.
What is the next Texas rocket launch? Blue Origin to transport NASA science experiments, other payloads to space
The upcoming mission will provide more than three minutes of microgravity for experiments from a range of organizations, including from NASA and several U.S. universities.
The payload manifest also includes thousands of student-written postcards being transported to the edge of space on behalf of Club for the Future, Blue Origin’s education nonprofit that has a mission “to inspire the next generation of space explorers,” according to the company.
The New Shepard capsule and rocket booster are the same that in February were used for an uncrewed Blue Origin spaceflight to simulate the moon’s low gravity to test NASA technology that could be sent to the lunar surface. The feat involved the spacecraft’s capsule rotating in such a precise way after stage separation as to create conditions that would mimic the lunar surface.
How to watch the Blue Origin New Shepard take off
Blue Origin will provide a webcast of the launch beginning about 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled liftoff on its website.
Where to watch Blue Origin launch New Shepard in Texas
Blue Origin does not provide any public viewing areas for launches at or near its facility, which is located in a remote desert.
Spectators, though, have been known to pull over on U.S. Route 54 to gather on spots to the side of the highway that offer good views of New Shepard getting off the ground.
Van Horn, the nearest town, is located about 30 miles south of Launch Site One in Culberson County, Texas. While the town is too far away to see the launch pad, it is likely the best place to see a New Shepard rocket soar into the sky.
The town’s visitors bureau advertises Blue Origin on its homepage and its brochure as an attraction, but does not list any suggested public viewing locations for launches.
However, here is a list of public places in and around Van Horn – some listed as attractions on the visitors’ bureau website – where spectators might be able to see a rocket ascending into the sky.
Does Jeff Bezos own Blue Origin? What to know
Billionaire Jeff Bezos, best known for founding Amazon, is the founder of the private space technology company Blue Origin.
Bezos himself even boarded Blue Origin’s New Shepard for its maiden crewed voyage in July 2021, which came after the spacecraft flew on 15 flight tests beginning in 2012. For nearly four years since its first crewed mission, the New Shepard spacecraft has served as a powerful symbol of Blue Origin’s commercial spaceflight ambitions amid a growing space tourism industry.
In addition to sending space tourists on brief joy rides to the edge of space, Blue Origin has also increasingly sought to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX for NASA’s business, as well as the business of other private companies.
Blue Origin’s massive New Glenn rocket, which flew on its inaugural flight test in January 2025 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, is also due to launch again in the weeks or months ahead from Florida. At 322 feet tall, the spacecraft rivals SpaceX’s 403-foot Starship in size.
What happens during a New Shepard rocket launch?
Each spaceflight on a New Shepard vehicle lasts about 11 minutes from liftoff to capsule touchdown.
Named after astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space, the 60-foot-tall New Shepard rocket is topped with the gum drop-shaped crew capsule. The spacecraft operates completely autonomously, meaning no pilots are aboard.
During its ascent, the spacecraft reaches supersonic speeds surpassing 2,000 mph before the rocket booster separates from the crew capsule. At that point, the capsule becomes weightless as the spacecraft continues toward its highest point on its brief voyage above the Kármán Line – the 62-mile-high internationally recognized boundary of space.
If it’s a mission with people on board, the passengers will at this time experience a few minutes of microgravity after they unstrap themselves from their seats to gaze out the capsule’s large windows and take in a stunning view of Earth.
Meanwhile, the rocket booster heads back to the ground while firing its engines and using its fins to slow and control its descent to land vertical about two miles from the launchpad.
The capsule itself eventually begins what Blue Origin refers to as a “stable freefall” – plummeting back to Earth as three massive parachutes deploy and the capsule makes a soft landing in the desert, sending up plumes of dust.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Is there a Blue Origin launch? Bezos’ rocket company reschedules science mission in Texas
Reporting by Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY NETWORK / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
