Blue Origin successfully completed its 15th crewed suborbital space tourism flight, NS-36, transporting six passengers, including Will Lewis, CEO of medical biotech firm Insmed. This operational milestone for Jeff Bezos's venture underscores the growing commercial activity and demand within the high-net-worth space tourism sector, a market where competitor Virgin Galactic charges $600,000 per seat, signaling continued expansion and potential for this niche industry.
Blue Origin launches 6 'Space Nomads,' including mystery passenger, on suborbital space tourist flight (video) Blue Origin launched its 15th space tourism flight today (Oct. 8), sending six people on a brief trip to the final frontier, including a mystery passenger who only revealed his identity after the flight. The company's New Shepard vehicle lifted off from Blue Origin's West Texas launch site today at 9:40 a.m. EDT (1340 GMT; 8:40 a.m. local Texas time), kicking off a suborbital flight known as NS-36. Everything went according to plan for Blue Origin. New Shepard's first stage came back to Earth for a vertical, powered landing about 8 minutes after launch, and the autonomous vehicle's capsule followed suit several minutes later, touching down under parachutes in the Texas desert. Flying on that capsule were franchise-industry executive Jeff Elgin, media entrepreneur Danna Karagussova, electrical engineer Clint Kelly III, software entrepreneur and author Aaron Newman, and Ukrainian businessman and investor Vitalii Ostrovsky. "Oh my God, oh my God!" Karagussova could be heard exclaiming as they reached space. She and her crewmates had dubbed themselves the "Space Nomads" for the flight, as each Blue Origin crew picks its own nickname, the company said. There was also a sixth mystery passenger, who wanted to remain anonymous until after the flight. That mystery space tourist was Will Lewis, CEO and chair of the medical biotech company Insmed. "He is an experienced adventurer and considers NS-36 to be the fulfillment of a lifelong dream," Blue Origin spokesperson Tabitha Lipkin said during live commentary. NS-36 was the second spaceflight for Kelly, who performed pioneering robotics and computer-science research in the 1980s at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He also went to space on Blue Origin's NS-22 mission in August 2022. Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more! You can read more about each NS-36 passenger in our crew reveal story. Blue Origin, which was founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, has been flying New Shepard for a decade now. As its name suggests, today's flight was the 36th overall for the reusable vehicle. It was just the 15th to carry people, however; most New Shepard jaunts have been uncrewed research flights. New Shepard gets more than 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth — higher than the Kármán line, the widely recognized boundary of outer space. Passengers experience a few minutes of weightlessness and get to see Earth against the blackness of space. Blue Origin said the NS-36 space tourists reached a maximum altitude of about 66 miles (107 kilometers), just above the Kármán line during their flight. From liftoff to landing, the entire mission lasted 10 minutes and 21 seconds. Blue Origin has not revealed its New Shepard ticket prices. But, for some perspective: The company's biggest competitor in the suborbital tourism business, Virgin Galactic, charged $600,000 per seat for its most recent flights. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Blue Origin successfully completed its 15th crewed suborbital space tourism flight, NS-36, transporting six passengers including Insmed CEO Will Lewis. This marks a consistent operational milestone for the Jeff Bezos-founded company, demonstrating repeatable execution in the nascent commercial space tourism sector. The 10-minute mission reached a maximum altitude of 66 miles, showcasing the New Shepard vehicle's reliable performance. The flight underscores the high-value segment of space tourism, where competitor Virgin Galactic (SPCE) commands $600,000 per seat, providing a benchmark for potential market valuation. While Blue Origin (linked to AMZN founder) does not disclose its ticket prices, its sustained operational tempo is critical for establishing reliability and attracting future clientele. This event, despite a low direct market impact score (0.25), contributes to the moderately positive sentiment (0.6) surrounding private space ventures. Continued successful missions like NS-36 are essential for validating the industry's growth potential and fostering investor confidence in Technology & Innovation and Travel & Leisure themes.
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