Blue Origin Relaunches Crewed Space Flights After 2022 Success

Blue Origin has completed its NS-25 mission, marking the return of crewed flights for the first time in almost two years.

This landmark mission carried six tourist crew members to the edge of space, including artist and former Air Force Captain Ed Dwight. In 1961, Dwight was selected by President John F. Kennedy as the nation’s first Black astronaut candidate, though he never made it to space until now. The other passengers included software engineer and entrepreneur Ken Hess, retired accountant Carol Schaller, Sylvain Chiron, founder of Brasserie Mont Blanc brewery, aviator Gopi Thotakura, and venture capitalist Mason Angel of Industrious Ventures.

“I thought the whole idea of going to space with Blue Origin was a fascinating last chapter,” Dwight said in a Blue Origin promotional video. “I really, really want to do this because each person who goes up there all of a sudden has a totally different perspective of this little place here.”

The New Shepard rocket and its crew capsule safely returned to Earth, successfully concluding the mission.

Blue Origin, the private space venture founded by Jeff Bezos, had paused its launches after an anomaly during the NS-22 mission in August 2022, which led to an abort after liftoff.

In collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration, the company identified 21 corrective actions before proceeding with the following New Shepard launch. The rocket resumed operations in December 2023 with an uncrewed mission that carried 33 cargo payloads into space.

As its name suggests, the NS-25 mission marks the New Shepard’s 25th flight and the seventh with humans on board. This mission brings Blue Origin’s total number of human passengers flown to space to 37.