Firm playbook · reviewed October 2026

How to pass a BluSky Trading challenge

BluSky runs several futures products with different rulebooks, and the consistency threshold changes between them: 34% on Propel Premium and Static evaluations, 50% on Launch evaluations, and no consistency rule on Orbit. The drawdown is an end-of-day trailing minimum balance, not an intraday trail, and the plan you pick decides whether you pay a monthly evaluation fee or a one-time Launch fee. This guide works through the rules published in BluSky's own help centre on 21 October 2026, in the order that ends an account — drawdown, consistency, sizing, payout.

Key takeaways

The minimum balance trails your highest end-of-day balance and is calculated at 6PM; it only moves up.
Consistency is 34% on Propel Premium and Static (21% on the 300K plan), 50% on Launch, and absent on Orbit.
Propel and Orbit charge no launch fee; Launch and Stocks plans charge a one-time Launch fee once you pass, payable within 14 days.
News trading, contract size and trading hours are not fail conditions; hedging is prohibited.
Payouts are 90/10 and advertised daily, Monday to Friday.
Tick-based sizing and the rising minimum balance, not the profit target, decide most attempts.

Contents

Which BluSky plan you are buying
The EOD trailing minimum balance
The consistency threshold
Sizing in contracts
A twenty-session plan
Payouts and the daily cycle
Monthly fee or Launch fee
Who should buy this

Which BluSky plan you are buying

BluSky is not one evaluation with one rule set. Propel, Launch and Orbit are separate products, and the differences are not cosmetic: they change the consistency threshold, the fee timing and the number of phases. Comparing "BluSky" with another firm without naming the plan is comparing an average of three products.

Parameter	BluSky (by plan)
Products	Propel (Premium and Static), Launch, Orbit, Stocks, Instant Funding
Consistency	34% on Propel Premium and Static (21% on the 300K plan); 50% on Launch evaluations; none on Orbit
Drawdown	End-of-day trailing minimum balance, calculated at 6PM from the starting balance
Billing	Monthly evaluation subscription on Propel and Orbit; one-time Launch fee on Launch and Stocks, due after passing
Split	90% trader / 10% firm
Payout rhythm	Daily, Monday to Friday, once funded
Platforms named in BluSky's help centre	Tradovate and Rithmic, including their drawdown monitoring tools

The Launch fee is the detail most likely to be missed. It is not charged up front; it becomes due the moment the evaluation is passed, and BluSky gives 14 days to pay it from the billing section. If it is not paid by the due date the account expires and the passed evaluation cannot be reinstated. A trader who budgets only for the monthly fee can pass and still lose the account over a payment deadline.

The EOD trailing minimum balance

The failure condition is falling below the minimum balance at any point. That balance starts at the account size minus the trail — a $50,000 evaluation begins with a $48,000 minimum — and it rises with the highest end-of-day balance, calculated at 6PM from the starting balance.

Two examples make the mechanic concrete. If the account reaches $50,750 by the close, the new minimum becomes $48,750. If a later trade closes back at $50,300, the minimum stays at $48,750: it does not fall back with losses. That ratchet is the cost of the product, and it is why the risk unit has to shrink as the account earns.

Because the calculation is end-of-day, intraday swings do not move the threshold. A position can run into profit and retrace within the session without lifting the failure point, which makes this materially more forgiving than an intraday trail for a method that gives back open profit. What it does not forgive is finishing the day at a new high and then losing the cushion in the following sessions.

Two practical tools follow from the help centre. On Rithmic, the "Auto Liquidate Threshold Value" in RTrader Pro tracks the minimum; on Tradovate, the "Drawdown Auto Liq" column in the Accounts tab does the same. Setting either before the first trade removes the need to compute the threshold by hand each morning.

What does not fail the account is also worth knowing: trading news at your own risk, using more contracts than the terms allow (BluSky says it will liquidate or restart rather than fail), and trading outside the recommended hours. Hedging is the exception — it is prohibited for futures and can result in reward denial or account closure.

The consistency threshold

The consistency rule caps how much of the profit can come from the best day. BluSky applies it at different levels by product, and the method used is unusual: the highest profit day becomes a percentage of your new target. That means the ratio is measured against the target rather than against total profit, so a single large day can breach the rule even when the account is only part-way through.

On Propel Premium and Static the threshold is 34%, and 21% on the 300K plan. On Launch evaluations it is 50%, although the buffer to pass is still 34%. Orbit evaluations carry no consistency rule at all. A trader choosing between plans should treat the threshold as a primary filter, not a footnote: 21% on a large account is a different product from 50% on a Launch account.

The practical test is the same in each case. Take your last sixty sessions, total the profit, and find the share produced by the best day. If it is above the plan's threshold, the attempt needs smaller targets and more sessions before the first trade, or a reduced unit on the days that produce outlier wins.

BluSky's dashboard calculates the metric and shows the profit of the best day, so the number is visible during the attempt rather than discovered at the payout request. Check it daily; a pass that fails consistency is a failed evaluation regardless of the profit.

Sizing in contracts

Futures risk is measured in ticks, not in lots. A Micro E-mini Nasdaq contract pays $2 per tick, so a 15-tick stop risks $30 per contract; $300 of risk buys ten contracts. One E-mini S&P contract pays $12.50 per tick, so an 8-tick stop risks $100 and the same $300 buys three contracts. The dollar unit is the constant; the contract count is the output.

Two adjustments belong in the model. The first is slippage: a stop order becomes a market order when triggered, and in a fast tape the fill can be several ticks beyond the level. On a 20-tick stop, a 3-tick slip is a 15% overrun; on an 8-tick stop it is 37%. Budget the stop plus the historical slip when computing contracts.

The second is commission. Futures commissions are charged per contract per side, so a ten-contract round turn is twenty commission units. On a small target that is a visible share of the profit, and on a scalping method it can be most of it. Add it to the model before the attempt rather than discovering it on the first statement.

A twenty-session plan

Sessions one to four are calibration. Trade half the normal unit, record the minimum balance before every entry, and confirm how the threshold moves after a strong close. The goal is not profit; it is to learn the account's mechanics at a size where a mistake is survivable.

Sessions five to twelve are the working block. Normal unit, a fixed number of setups per session, and a hard stop after two losing trades. Recalculate the room each morning and halve the unit when it falls below a figure set in advance. Because the minimum only ratchets upward, this is the block where a good run starts to compress the cushion.

Sessions thirteen to eighteen are the distribution block — the most important one on Propel. If the best day is approaching the plan's threshold (34%, or 21% on the 300K), the correct action is to reduce the target per session and add sessions, not to press for a larger win. Check the dashboard figure rather than estimating it.

Sessions nineteen and twenty are the close. Halve the unit, protect the target, and prepare the payout documentation — identity verification, payment method, statements. On a Launch or Stocks plan, confirm the Launch fee is paid within the 14-day window the moment the pass is confirmed.

Payouts and the daily cycle

BluSky advertises payouts Monday to Friday once funded, with a 90/10 split. The conditions still apply: an eligible balance, completed identity and payment verification, and the account's consistency rules. Each is a gate that can delay funds even when the trading is finished and correct.

The review looks at the record: statements, the distribution of profit, size relative to the terms, and any pattern that resembles prohibited practice such as hedging. A trader with a journal answers in an afternoon. A trader without one is relying on the firm's interpretation of a statement, which is a weaker position than it sounds.

Confirm the cycle in dollars rather than percentages. A 90% split is only better than an 80% split if the payout actually clears on the advertised rhythm; compare total time from first payment to cleared funds, which is usually longer than either the fee page or the split page suggests.

Monthly fee or Launch fee

For Propel and Orbit, the evaluation is a monthly subscription that ends when the evaluation is passed. A slow attempt costs more each month, which changes the optimal pace: the fee rewards finishing, and a trader who grinds for three months pays three months. The fee is non-refundable regardless of the outcome.

Launch and Stocks plans invert that. The evaluation is passed first and the one-time Launch fee becomes due afterwards, within 14 days. Nothing is charged up front, but the deadline is hard: miss it and the passed evaluation is lost with no reinstatement.

Compare the two on the all-in cost of reaching a funded account. On a monthly plan the expected cost is the monthly fee times the expected number of months times the expected number of attempts. On a Launch plan it is the Launch fee, payable only on success — cheaper if you pass, and cheaper still if you fail, but with the cash-flow risk concentrated at the moment of passing.

There are also costs that do not appear on the firm's page: the data feed, the platform, and the opportunity cost of capital tied up in an attempt. They are small individually and decisive in aggregate, particularly for a trader running several attempts in parallel.

Who should buy this

This product fits a futures trader who already has a platform workflow, understands tick-based sizing, and can trade the US session. The EOD trailing minimum is easier on a method that gives back open profit than an intraday trail would be, and the daily payout rhythm shortens the wait for a first withdrawal.

It fits less well a trader whose edge arrives in a few large sessions, because every Propel plan caps the best day at 34% or lower and Launch at 50%. A trader in that position should look at Orbit, which has no consistency rule, or at a firm whose consistency test applies only at payout.

If the fit is unclear, paper-trade the exact rules for two weeks: record the highest end-of-day balance each session, apply the plan's consistency threshold to a simulated target, and check whether the method's normal distribution clears it. A fortnight of that exercise is cheaper than a failed attempt and more informative than any comparison table.

Common questions

Is BluSky a monthly subscription?

On Propel and Orbit, yes: the evaluation is billed monthly and the subscription ends when you pass. Launch and Stocks plans instead charge a one-time Launch fee after passing, due within 14 days.

What is BluSky's consistency rule?

34% on Propel Premium and Static evaluations (21% on the 300K plan), 50% on Launch evaluations, and none on Orbit. The best day is measured against your new target, and the dashboard shows the current figure.

Is the drawdown intraday or end-of-day?

End-of-day. The minimum balance rises with your highest end-of-day balance, calculated at 6PM, and never falls back. Intraday swings do not move it, but the balance cannot close below it.

What fails a BluSky evaluation?

Falling below the minimum balance at any point. News trading, contract count and trading hours are not fail conditions; hedging is prohibited and can lead to reward denial or account closure.

How much can I risk per trade on a $50,000 account?

With a $2,000 trail, a unit of $200 to $250 survives eight to ten losses with a buffer. The exact figure is the remaining room divided by the number of losses the plan allows, capped at the original unit.

Can someone else trade the evaluation for me?

Only if the firm's terms permit it. Some rulebooks prohibit third-party trading, and a pass obtained against those terms can be reversed at payout. Confirm the clause in writing before paying anyone to trade the account.

BluSky evaluation, traded for you

One flat $220 for any account size. Retries covered, no profit split, funded login in your name. If BluSky's terms forbid third-party trading we tell you before you pay.

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