Blue Origin successfully completed its 15th space tourism mission on October 8, launching six individuals on a brief journey to the edge of space. Notably, one passenger’s identity remained undisclosed until after the flight concluded.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle commenced its NS-36 suborbital mission today, launching from the company’s West Texas site at 9:40 a.m. EDT (1340 GMT; 8:40 a.m. local Texas time).
Blue Origin successfully executed its latest New Shepard mission with precision. The spacecraft’s reusable first stage performed a flawless vertical, powered landing approximately eight minutes after liftoff. Subsequently, the autonomous crew capsule completed its descent, touching down safely under parachutes in the Texas desert just minutes later.
The capsule carried a roster of individuals including Jeff Elgin, an executive in the franchise industry; Danna Karagussova, a media entrepreneur; Clint Kelly III, an electrical engineer; Aaron Newman, a software entrepreneur and author; and Vitalii Ostrovsky, a Ukrainian businessman and investor.
“Oh my God, oh my God!” Karagussova was heard exclaiming as her crew successfully reached space. For their mission, she and her fellow spacefarers had dubbed themselves the “Space Nomads,” a unique tradition established by Blue Origin, which permits each flight crew to choose its own distinct moniker.
A sixth individual, whose identity was deliberately kept private at their own request, was not revealed until the conclusion of the flight.
The previously unnamed space tourist has been identified as Will Lewis, CEO and chairman of the medical biotechnology firm Insmed. Blue Origin spokesperson Tabitha Lipkin, commenting during the live broadcast, characterized Lewis as an “experienced adventurer” who regarded the NS-36 mission as the “fulfillment of a lifelong dream.”
The NS-36 flight also marked the second journey into space for Kelly, a notable figure from the 1980s known for his pioneering research in robotics and computer science at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Kelly’s initial space experience was aboard Blue Origin’s NS-22 mission in August 2022.
Discover comprehensive profiles of the NS-36 passengers within our dedicated crew reveal story.
Aerospace firm Blue Origin, established by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has now maintained a decade of flight operations with its New Shepard rocket.
Today’s flight marked the 36th overall mission for the reusable New Shepard vehicle. While reaching this operational milestone, it was notably only the 15th instance the craft has transported human passengers, with the vast majority of its previous excursions dedicated to uncrewed research.
The New Shepard spacecraft carries passengers to an altitude exceeding 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth, successfully crossing the Kármán line, which is widely recognized as the boundary of outer space. During their journey, individuals experience several minutes of weightlessness and are provided with a profound view of Earth contrasted against the deep blackness of space.
Blue Origin confirmed that its NS-36 mission carried space tourists to an apex altitude of approximately 66 miles (107 kilometers), successfully breaching the Kármán line. The complete flight, from initial liftoff to final landing, concluded in a swift 10 minutes and 21 seconds.
Blue Origin has yet to disclose the pricing for its New Shepard suborbital flights. This stands in contrast to its primary competitor in the burgeoning suborbital tourism market, Virgin Galactic, which recently sold seats on its flights for $600,000 each.
