Fourth flight with passengers for the New Shepard capsule: the 'go' to launch was delayed and the countdown was repeated three times, but in the end the new suborbital flight of the Blue Origin shuttle was successful and in the ten minutes in which it lasted the six of the crew were able to greet the border that at an altitude of 100 kilometers marks the entrance into space.
Jeff Bezos' shuttle thus completed the NS-20 mission, on board which also flew Gary Lai, project manager of the 18-meter-high reusable launcher and head of the New Shepard space tourism program.
"There are no words that can describe what it feels like," Lai said immediately after landing: "you have to live it."
The weightlessness and then the acceleration upon returning to Earth "gave me intense sensations and I felt a little dizzy," she added.
Today was also the twentieth flight of Blue Origin, considering all the unmanned test flights made from 2015 to today, and it was also the second flight with six passengers on board, after that of 11 December 2021, to which was attended by Laura Shepard, the daughter of the first American to fly into space, also with a suborbital flight.
Also aboard today's flight was Sharon Hagle, founder of SpaceKids Global, an organization committed to transmitting a passion for science, technology and art to children.
She flew with her husband Marc Hagle.
Businessman Marty Allen and teacher Jim Kitchen are also on board.