Overview
- Blue Origin announced it will halt suborbital tourist trips on New Shepard for a minimum of two years.
- The pivot aligns with its NASA role, with the Blue Moon lander slated for Artemis‑5 in 2029 and a robotic demo mission planned this year.
- Since 2021 the program has completed 38 flights carrying 98 people, including Jeff Bezos, Katy Perry and William Shatner.
- Recent passengers included engineer Michaela Benthaus, the first person with a spinal cord injury in space, and former aerospace engineer Hans Königsmann.
- The brief, largely automated flights reached about 100 kilometers with minutes of weightlessness, drew criticism over limited scientific value, environmental impact and exclusivity, and ticket prices remain undisclosed.