Blue Origin launches 6 more passengers to the edge of space and back

CBS News

20 hours ago

Blue Origin launched six astrotourists to the edge of space and back Sunday, a 10-minute ride marking the Jeff Bezos-owned company's 13th passenger flight out of the discernible atmosphere.
The New Shepard capsule's stubby single-stage booster roared to life just after 9:38 a.m. EDT, throttled up to full thrust and smoothly climbed away from Blue Origin's launch site near Van Horn, Texas.
A Blue Origin New Shepard rocket carrying six space tourists blasts off from the company's West Texas flight facility, briefly boosting the passengers out of the discernible atmosphere on an up-and-down sub-orbital space flight.
Blue Origin
Liftoff came eight days later than originally planned due to high winds in the West Texas desert, but the weather met Blue Origin's safety requirements on Sunday.
The hydrogen-fueled BE-3 engine powering the New Shepard fired for about two-and-a-half minutes, accelerating the spacecraft to just under three times the speed of sound. The capsule then separated from the booster and continued coasting upward along its up-and-down trajectory.
At that point, the passengers – Allie and Carl Kuehner, Leland Larson, Freddie Rescigno Jr., Jim Sitkin and Owolabi Salis, the first Nigerian to fly in space – began enjoying about three minutes of weightlessness.
The New Shepard flight profile.
Blue Origin
Free to unstrap and float about the cabin, the passengers were able to take in the view through the largest windows in any operational spacecraft as the ship climbed to an altitude of just above 65 miles. That's about three miles higher than the internationally recognized boundary between the discernible atmosphere and space.
The capsule then began falling back to Earth and the passengers returned to their seats for the descent to touchdown. The reusable booster, meanwhile, made its own return to the launch site, dropping tail first to a rocket-powered touchdown.
The New Shepard capsule landed very close to its booster's landing pad, but Blue Origin said it was within safety margins.
Blue Origin
Floating under three red-and-blue parachutes, the New Shepard capsule touched down a stone's throw from the booster's concrete landing pad, closer than any previous landing. Blue Origin said that it was the result of "low winds ... and within the safety margins of our predicted models."
Touchdown closed out a 10-minute flight to the edge of space and back. It was Blue Origin's 13th sub-orbital passenger flight.
Blue Origin
Blue Origin has now launched 13 passenger flights since the sub-orbital spacecraft carried Amazon and Blue Origin founder Bezos and three others aloft in July 2021. The company has now launched 74 passengers, including Bezos' wife Lauren Sánchez, and four who have flown twice.
Blue Origin and its passengers do not reveal how much it costs to fly aboard a New Shepard, but it's thought to be more than $500,000 per seat.
The company has had the sub-orbital passenger market to itself since June 2024, when competitor Virgin Galactic, founded by entrepreneur Richard Branson, retired its original rocketplane to focus on building two upgraded Delta-class spacecraft. Virgin is expected to resume flights next year.