Blue Origin's Typical Mission Altitude
Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital vehicle flies above the Kármán line, the commonly used boundary of space at 100 kilometers (about 62 miles). Most crewed flights reach altitudes between 100 and 110 kilometers, providing several minutes of weightlessness before the capsule returns to Earth.
How Far Does New Shepard Travel Horizontally
Because New Shepard is a suborbital rocket, it does not enter orbit and follows a steep up-and-down trajectory. The vehicle travels mainly in altitude rather than distance, with a total downrange distance of roughly tens to low hundreds of kilometers from the launch site in West Texas.
Comparison With Orbital Spaceflight Distances
Unlike orbital missions that circle Earth at altitudes above 300 kilometers, New Shepard's flights are brief and do not circle the planet. For context, orbital spacecraft such as those operated by NASA can travel thousands of kilometers in a single orbit, while Blue Origin's flights are focused on reaching space and returning safely.
