Blue Origin Completes 15th Space Tourism Flight

Today, Blue Origin conducted its 15th space tourism mission, launching six passengers on a short suborbital journey to the edge of space. The mission featured a surprise passenger who chose to remain anonymous until after the flight.

The spacecraft, a New Shepard, lifted off from the company’s West Texas launch site at 9:40 a.m. EDT. The vehicle’s first stage returned to the ground for a vertical landing approximately eight minutes after launch, while the capsule detached and landed safely under parachutes in the desert.

The crew, dubbed the “Space Nomads,” included industry executive Jeff Elgin, media entrepreneur Danna Karagussova, engineer Clint Kelly III, software entrepreneur Aaron Newman, and investor Vitalii Ostrovsky. The sixth passenger, Will Lewis, CEO of biotech company Insmed, remained anonymous until after the flight. Blue Origin described him as an experienced adventurer fulfilling a lifelong dream.

During the brief 10-minute mission, the passengers reached a maximum altitude of around 66 miles (107 kilometers), surpassing the Kármán line, the commonly recognized boundary of space. They experienced a few minutes of weightlessness and witnessed Earth from above, with views against the backdrop of space’s blackness.

The six space tourists of Blue Origin's NS-36 flight in a crew portrait wearing blue flight suits inside their spacecraft. — Six passengers aboard the NS-36 flight, including Jeff Elgin, Clint Kelly, Danna Karagussova, Vitalii Ostrovsky, Aaron Newman, and the secretive Will Lewis. (Image credit: Blue Origin)

The entire mission, from launch to landing, lasted just over 10 minutes. The company has not disclosed ticket prices, but Virgin Galactic charges approximately $600,000 per seat for its suborbital flights, indicating the high value of such experiences.