Blue Origin

All the news about Blue Origin’s first crewed flight since 2022

By Wes Davis, a weekend editor who covers the latest in tech and entertainment. He has written news, reviews, and more as a tech journalist since 2020.

Blue Origin carried out its first crewed launch since 2022 on May 19th, sending six space tourists into space for a brief period of weightlessness. The New Shepard rocket took off at about an hour after its 9:30AM ET launch window started and passed the Kármán line — the 62-mile-high line that separates the Earth’s atmosphere from space — about three and a half minutes later, reaching a peak of about 347,000 feet high less than a minute after that.

One of NS-25’s passengers was Ed Dwight, who, with the backing of President John F. Kennedy’s administration, trained for NASA’s space program in the early 1960s, but wasn’t ultimately selected to become an astronaut. His seat on NS-25 was sponsored by the nonprofit Space for Humanity.

The five other passengers on the flight were Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Kenneth L. Hess, Carol Schaller, and Gopi Thotakura.

This was Blue Origin’s seventh crewed flight. Blue Origin paused its space tourism flights in 2022 after a booster malfunctioned on an uncrewed flight in September that year, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate the failure and require it to carry out 21 corrective actions.

Correction May 19th: This article previously said this is Blue Origin’s sixth crewed mission, but in fact, it’s the seventh. That has been corrected, as has the spelling of Ed Dwight’s name.

PINNED
May 19
Wes Davis
Safe and accounted for.
All of the crew of Blue Origin’s NS-25 flight have emerged from the capsule, safe and sound. That includes Ed Dwight, who was selected as the first Black Astronaut candidate in the early days of NASA’s space program but never went to space before today.
“I thought I really didn’t need this in my life,” he said during Blue Origin’s livestream, “but now I need it in my life.”

Screenshot: YouTube
May 19
Wes Davis
Blue Origin’s capsule is back on Earth.
The capsule parachuted down to the desert too, landing shortly after the New Shepard rocket. One of its parachutes didn’t deploy fully, but Blue Origin’s webcasters say the company has tested for that possibility and that it’s fine. They added that the crew are reporting they’re fine.

1/4
May 19
Wes Davis
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket has safely touched back down in Texas.
The reusable rocket that just took the NS-25 capsule into space has now touched down in the desert of West Texas.
May 19
Wes Davis
Blue Origin’s NS-25 mission just reached space.
At about 3:46 into the flight, Blue Origin confirmed its NS-25 mission had passed into space, and its astronauts were in zero g space. The capsule is now descending back to earth.
May 19
Wes Davis
New Shepard has launched.
Blue Origin’s rocket engines have fired, carrying its crew of six space tourists skyward.

Screenshot: YouTube
May 19
Wes Davis
Blue Origin is launching in one minute.
The walkway is retracted and New Shepard has switched to autonomous mode — the launch now can’t be canceled.

Screenshot: YouTube
May 19
Wes Davis
An interesting statistic.
Blue Origin’s livestream popped this image up, showing that about eight percent of women who’ve flown to space have been on New Shepard.
May 19
Wes Davis
T-minus 10 minutes.
Blue Origin is pushing NS-25’s launch a little further back from 10:13.
May 19
Wes Davis
Blue Origin has started loading the crew for NS-25 onboard.
The company has also updated its targeted launch time for New Shepard’s NS-25 mission to 10:13AM ET. The livestream is also showing video now.
May 19
Wes Davis
Blue Origin has started the livestream for its next crewed launch.
Live coverage should be starting soon for the 25th launch of New Shepard, which hasn’t taken humans aboard in about two years after a booster malfunction on an uncrewed mission paused its space tourism launches in September 2022.
Blue Origin’s rocket is vertical on the launch pad and the company now targeting 9:52AM ET for launch.
May 18
Wes Davis
Blue Origin’s first crewed launch since 2022: where to watch
Image: Blue Origin
It’s been over a year and a half since Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket failed mid-flight, and more than two since its last crewed flight. Now, the company is go to launch six human beings into space. The company’s launch window begins at 6:30AM PT / 9:30AM ET, but will start streaming 40 minutes ahead of time on its website.
Blue Origin also normally streams its launches live on its YouTube channel, so it’s a pretty safe bet it will do so for its NS-25 mission tomorrow. Assuming the launch goes as planned, it will carry six passengers aboard, including the 90-year-old Ed Dwight, who was America’s first Black astronaut candidate but has never been to space. The other passengers are Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Kenneth L. Hess, Carol Schaller, and Gopi Thotakura.
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Blue Origin’s first crewed launch since 2022: where to watch