Overview
- The suborbital launch lifted off from West Texas on Dec. 20 shortly after 8:15 a.m. local time, crossed the Kármán line and ended with a parachute landing after about 10 minutes.
- Michaela Benthaus, an ESA-affiliated German aerospace engineer who became paraplegic after a 2018 bicycle accident, reached space as a paying tourist.
- Blue Origin implemented accommodations as Benthaus boarded with assistance, had her legs secured for microgravity, and flew with Hans Koenigsmann accompanying her to the Kármán line.
- The flight was New Shepard’s 37th mission and 17th carrying passengers, extending a program that has flown more than 80 people.
- Ticket prices remain undisclosed, with CBS estimating fares at least $500,000, and NASA chief Jared Isaacman publicly lauded Benthaus’s achievement on X.