Blue Origin Performs 12th Crewed New Shepard Suborbital Flight

Source: Visit website

REYKJAVÍK, Iceland — Blue Origin sent six people to space on a suborbital spaceflight May 31 that the company's chief executive says is both a good business and a way to test technology.

Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle lifted off from the company's Launch Site One in West Texas at 9:39 a.m. Eastern. The capsule, after reaching an apogee of 105 kilometers, landed 10 minutes later, a few minutes after the booster.

This was the 12 th crewed flight of New Shepard and the vehicle has now carried 64 people, four of whom have flown more than once. With this flight, Rocket became the first person from New Zealand to go to space and Alemán the first Panamanian.

Speaking at the Humans to the Moon and Mars Summit by Explore Mars May 28, Dave Limp, chief executive of Blue Origin, reiterated that the company remains committed to New Shepard even as it flies its New Glenn launch vehicle and works on the Blue Moon lander and other capabilities.

Limp, echoing comments he gave at the Commercial Space Conference in February , said that New Shepard both stands on its own as a service and also gives the company the ability to test technologies for other programs.