Blue Origin sends six passengers to the edge of space on NS-36 suborbital flight
Liftoff occurred at 8:40 a.m. Central Daylight Time from Launch Site One near Van Horn. The reusable New Shepard booster and crew capsule reached an apogee of about 346,000 feet (105.6 km), carrying the six passengers briefly beyond the Karman line-the internationally recognized boundary of space-before both stages returned safely to the desert floor. The mission lasted 10 minutes and 21 seconds.
Onboard were Jeff Elgin, Danna Karagussova, Clint Kelly III, Aaron Newman, Vitalii Ostrovsky, and William H. Lewis. Kelly, a robotics researcher, became Blue Origin's first repeat customer after flying previously on the NS-22 mission in August 2022.
Viewers watching the company's live webcast saw the capsule touch down to applause and an announcer's words: "Hugs all around." No immediate interviews were conducted, but Blue Origin said post-flight video and passenger reactions will be released later.
Ticket pricing remains undisclosed. Industry estimates place New Shepard seat deposits around $150,000, though earlier auctioned tickets have sold for millions. Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos in 2000, continues to expand its suborbital space tourism program while developing its orbital New Glenn rocket for upcoming commercial launches.
New Shepard has now completed 21 uncrewed research missions and 15 crewed flights, with more than 80 individuals having experienced suborbital spaceflight aboard the reusable system.
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