Blue Origin Completes 14th Manned Flight
Credit: Blue Origin
Blue Origin has successfully launched its New Shepard suborbital system with six people on board. It was the 34th flight of the vehicle and the 14th crewed launch in the program’s history.
The mission lasted about 10-12 minutes, as was the 13th manned launch. The rocket lifted the capsule above the Karman line (100 km above Earth) and the passengers were in a state of weightlessness for several minutes. After undocking, the capsule landed on parachutes, and the first stage returned to the landing pad in a vertical orientation for the final stage. Both elements of the system are reusable.
Justin Sun, the 34-year-old founder of the blockchain platform Tron, is the ship’s most famous passenger. In 2021, he won an auction for a seat on the first manned flight of New Shepard, paying $28 million. However, due to a scheduling conflict with his schedule, he was unable to participate in the July 20, 2021 launch, which included Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark, pilot Wally Funk, and Dutch student Oliver Daemen. Sun has only just joined the program, as part of the NS-34 mission.
Blue Origin hasn’t disclosed the exact cost of New Shepard tickets, but they’re significantly less than the $28 million Justin Sun paid. The company said the money went to 19 space charities to support education in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math, and to advance the future of life in space.
