Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle lifted off from their West Texas launch site today at 9:40 a.m. EDT (1340 GMT; 8:40 a.m. local Texas time), launching this suborbital flight known as NS-36. Photos captured by Satnews.
New Shepard’s first stage came back to Earth landing vertically about eight minutes after launch, and the autonomous vehicle’s capsule followed after several minutes carried under parachutes in the Texas desert.
The crew included: Jeff Elgin, Danna Karagussova, Clint Kelly III, Will Lewis, Aaron Newman, and Vitalii Ostrovsky. New Shepard has now flown 86 humans (80 individuals) into space. They called themselves the “Space Nomads”. According to the company each Blue Origin crew selects its own nickname.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket is produced specifically for space tourism. The rocket transports the passengers into suborbital space inside of a crew capsule. The capsule features six large observation windows accompanied by one seat for each.
“Today’s mission is a testament to the relentless spirit of exploration exhibited by this crew,” said Phil Joyce, SVP, New Shepard. “We are reminded of the profound effect that seeing Earth from above has on each astronaut. This experience fosters a deeper connection to our planet and drives us to continue working together to push the boundaries of what is possible.”