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Flight log: Blue Origin team leader flies standby to space

New Shepard launch seen from above
Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket ship rises from its Texas launch pad. (Blue Origin via YouTube)

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture sent six more people on a brief suborbital space trip today — including the director of Blue Origin’s New Shepard launch operations and training team.

The flight, known as NS-38, was Blue Origin’s 38th New Shepard mission overall, and the 17th mission that carried people.

Laura Stiles, who joined Blue Origin in 2013, was a late addition to the NS-36 crew. She filled a seat that was left open when one of the would-be spacefliers, Andrew Yaffe, had to bow out due to illness. Blue Origin said Yaffe will fly on a future New Shepard mission.

This was Stiles’ first trip to space, but she’s taken on several other roles associated with the New Shepard suborbital space program, including serving as a flight controller, a crew communicator and a trainer.

Stiles laughed for joy as she emerged from the New Shepard crew capsule at the end of the ride.

“There are so many people who have worked so hard for so many years with all their heart, all their soul, and I got to be there for everybody today,” she said. “The ride is incredible … We taught this training so many times, and it was so like … oh my God! The g’s, and the movement, and going through the clouds, and the Earth against the blackness. … We saw the moon, and things you can’t have pictured or imagined what it would be like to be up there.”

Today’s 10-minute flight was conducted at Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas. It followed Blue Origin’s standard procedure, with liftoff coming at 10:25 a.m. CT (8:25 a.m. PT). The reusable New Shepard booster sent the crew capsule to a height of 346,722 feet (65.7 miles or 105.7 kilometers) and then flew itself back to a landing pad.

Meanwhile, the crew got out of their seats to float in zero gravity and look out the windows at the black sky of space and the Earth below. They got back in their seats for a parachute-aided descent that ended with touchdown at 10:36 a.m. CT (8:36 a.m. PT).

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Blue Origin launches first wheelchair user into space

NS-37 crew member Michaela Benthaus spreads her arms in celebration as she sits in a wheelchair with Blue Origin's New Shepard capsule behind her
German engineer Michaela Benthaus celebrates after her suborbital space trip. (Blue Origin via YouTube)

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture added a page to the space history books today by sending the first wheelchair user into space.

“It was the coolest experience,” said Michaela “Michi” Benthaus, a German-born aerospace and mechatronics engineer at the European Space Agency who sustained a spinal cord injury in a mountain biking accident in 2018.

Blue Origin’s suborbital New Shepard rocket ship lifted off from the company’s Launch Site One in West Texas at 8:15 a.m. CT (6:15 a.m. PT). An initial launch attempt had been called off on Dec. 18 because the flight team “observed an issue with our built-in checks prior to flight,” Blue Origin said. It didn’t provide further details about the issue, but today’s countdown went off without a hitch.

This was the 37th New Shepard mission, and the 16th to carry humans on a brief ride above the 100-kilometer (62-mile) altitude level that marks the internationally accepted boundary of space. Eighty-six people, including Bezos himself, have now flown on New Shepard. Six have gone multiple times.

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Cosmic Space

Flight log: Six spacefliers go suborbital with Blue Origin

Liftoff for Blue Origin New Shepard rocket
Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket ship rises from its Texas launch pad. (Blue Origin via YouTube)

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture sent six more people on a brief suborbital space trip today aboard a New Shepard rocket ship. The flight, known as NS-36, was Blue Origin’s 36th New Shepard mission and the 15th crewed flight.

Today’s 10-minute flight was conducted at Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas. It followed Blue Origin’s standard procedure, with liftoff coming at 8:40 a.m. CT (6:40 a.m. PT). The reusable booster sent the crew capsule to a height of 65.7 miles (346,791 feet, or 106 kilometers), and then flew itself back to a landing pad.

Meanwhile, the crew got out of their seats to float in zero gravity and look out the windows at the black sky of space and the Earth below. They got back in their seats for a parachute-aided descent that ended with touchdown at 8:50 a.m. CT (6:50 a.m. PT).

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Blue Origin plans to expand suborbital space program

Blue Origin New Shepard lifts off
Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket ship lifts off for a suborbital mission in June. (Blue Origin Photo)

The executive in charge of Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital space program has laid out plans to scale up the operation for weekly launches — and says the company is looking into setting up a second launch site, perhaps outside the U.S.

Phil Joyce, Blue Origin’s senior vice president for New Shepard, discussed the road ahead over the weekend at the Global Spaceport Alliance’s International Spaceport Forum in Sydney, Australia. His remarks were reported by Aviation Week as well as SpaceNews.

Customer demand is a major factor behind the expansion plans. “The demand is really strong,” SpaceNews quoted Joyce as saying. “We’re continuing to see sales every week, every day.” Blue Origin’s backlog reportedly extends more than a year out.

To meet the demand, Jeff Bezos’ space venture plans to phase in three next-generation New Shepard rocket ships starting next year, Joyce said. Those vehicles would be powered by an upgraded version of Blue Origin’s hydrogen-fueled BE-3 engine.

The plan calls for retiring the two reusable rocket ships that are currently carrying crew by the end of 2027.

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Crypto billionaire finally gets his $28M trip into space

Blue Origin New Shepard rocket ship lifts off
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket ship rises from its West Texas launch pad. (Blue Origin via YouTube)

Controversial crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun finally got his suborbital ride into space today from Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture, four years after he put in the winning $28 million bid for a seat.

Five other spacefliers were alongside Sun when Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket ship rose from its pad at the company’s Launch Site One in West Texas at 7:42 a.m. CT (5:42 a.m. PT) for a 10-minute trip.

When Sun emerged from the crew capsule after the flight, he made a thumbs-up gesture, then stepped down to kiss the ground.

“I wished to go into space since I was a child, and after almost 30 years, it’s come true,” Sun said on Blue Origin’s webcast. “For this mission I waited four years, but we finally delivered it. I really appreciate Mr. Bezos and his team to make it possible. … This is my first commitment and step to space, and we will have more.”

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Crypto billionaire is finally getting his $28M ride to space

Digital rendering: Justin Sun in spacesuit
A digital rendering shows crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun in a spacesuit. (Justin Sun via X / Twitter in 2021)

Four years after he put in a precedent-setting $28 million bid for a suborbital space trip, crypto billionaire Justin Sun is due to fly on the next mission planned by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture.

Sun and five other people were listed today as participants in Blue Origin’s NS-34 mission, which will be the company’s 14th crewed spaceflight. The date for liftoff from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas hasn’t yet been announced.

In a posting to the X social-media platform, Sun said he was “proud to join Blue Origin’s NS-34 mission and continue encouraging youth to pursue their dreams in science and space.” And in a follow-up posting, Sun claimed the title of “the youngest Chinese commercial astronaut.”

It’s been a long and not-always-smooth road to space for Sun, the 34-year-old founder of the Tron blockchain venture.

Until recently, Sun was the subject of a federal investigation over alleged market manipulation and unregistered sales of crypto asset securities. That case was put on hold in February, and a couple of months later, Sun earned a place of prominence at a crypto dinner with President Donald Trump by purchasing the biggest share of the $TRUMP meme coin.

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Blue Origin sends six spacefliers on a suborbital ride

Blue Origin New Shepard rocket liftoff
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket ship lifts off from its Texas launch pad. (Blue Origin via YouTube)

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture launched six more travelers to the edge of the final frontier today, even as the billionaire and his new wife finished up a weekend of wedding festivities in Venice.

The New Shepard rocket lifted off from the Kent, Wash.-based company’s Launch Site One in West Texas at 9:40 a.m. CT (7:40 a.m. PT) today for a 10-minute mission.

An earlier launch attempt had to be scrubbed on June 21 due to concerns about persistent winds at the launch site.

Bezos himself was otherwise engaged during the buildup to today’s launch: He and former journalist and helicopter pilot Lauren Sanchez Bezos left Venice today for their honeymoon after a highly publicized, star-studded weekend of activities surrounding their wedding.

This was Blue Origin’s 33nd New Shepard suborbital launch and its 13th crewed mission. New Shepard’s booster sent the crew capsule to a height of about 105 kilometers (65 miles, or 344,640 feet), just beyond the 100-kilometer (62-mile) altitude that marks the internationally accepted boundary of space.

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Blue Origin sends world travelers on brief space odyssey

Blue Origin New Shepard rocket ascending from launch pad
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket ship rises spaceward from its Texas launch pad, as seen from above. (Blue Origin via YouTube)

Six well-traveled adventurers rode Blue Origin’s suborbital rocket ship to go where they’ve never gone before: the edge of space. The 10-minute mission lifted off from the Kent, Wash.-based company’s Launch Site One in West Texas at 8:39 a.m. CT (6:39 a.m. PT) today.

This was Blue Origin’s 32nd New Shepard suborbital launch and its 12th crewed mission. New Shepard’s booster sent the crew capsule to a height of about 104 kilometers (64.4 miles, or 339,800 feet) — just beyond the 100-kilometer (62-mile) altitude that marks the internationally accepted boundary of space.

After separation, the reusable booster descended to a landing pad under autonomous control. Meanwhile, the spacefliers experienced a few minutes of weightlessness and got an astronaut’s-eye view of Earth beneath a black sky. At the end of the ride, the capsule made a parachute-aided descent to the rangeland surrounding the launch site.

Since 2021, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture has flown 64 suborbital space travelers, including “Star Trek” captain William Shatner and Bezos himself.  A previous New Shepard flight in April sent up an all-female crew including pop superstar Katy Perry, CBS morning-show host Gayle King and Lauren Sanchez, a helicopter pilot and journalist who is Bezos’ fiancée. That mission generated celebrity buzz as well as backlash.

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All-female mission sends stars and scientists to space

Blue Origin New Shepard launch
Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket ship rises from its Texas launch pad. (Blue Origin via YouTube)

Six women rode Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket ship today on a short suborbital space trip that was notable because of a crew that included pop superstar Katy Perry, morning TV host Gayle King — and Lauren Sanchez, the fiancée of the space venture’s billionaire founder, Jeff Bezos.

Liftoff from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas occurred on time at 8:30 a.m. CT (6:30 a.m. PT). Blue Origin streamed coverage of the nearly 11-minute mission via its website and YouTube.

The spacefliers marveled at the views, including a just-past-full moon that was hanging in a darkened sky. “Look at the moon,” one could be heard saying over an audio link. “Oh my God,” another replied.

After touchdown, both Perry and King knelt to kiss the ground. “What happened to us was not a ‘ride.’ This was a bona fide frickin’ flight.” King told an interviewer.

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Blue Origin’s next space trip will feature all-female crew

Six photos of Blue Origin crew: Lauren Sanchez, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Aisha Bowe, Kerianne Flynn and Amanda Nguyen
Blue Origin’s NS-31 spacefliers include Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos’ fiancee; Gayle King, co-host of “CBS Mornings”; pop superstar Katy Perry; and Aisha Bowe, Kerianne Flynn and Amanda Nguyen, three advocates for women in STEM. (Blue Origin Photos)

The next suborbital spaceflight planned by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture is due to follow through on the dream of Bezos’ fiancee, Lauren Sanchez, to lead an all-woman crew — and that crew will include pop superstar Katy Perry and morning-TV host Gayle King.

Three advocates for women in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, will round out the six-person crew for a mission known as NS-31, Blue Origin announced today. The flight date hasn’t yet been announced, but the company says it will launch this spring.

“This will be the first all-female flight crew since Valentina Tereshkova’s solo spaceflight in 1963,” Blue Origin said in a reference to the Soviet space pioneer.

Sanchez called her crewmates “fearless explorers” in a posting to Threads. “I really see this group as explorers, and storytellers, each of us about to be changed by a remarkable view of our beautiful planet,” she said. “The countdown starts now!”

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