SpaceX rival Blue Origin successfully completes 13th crewed suborbital flight

In a remarkable breakthrough, Blue Origin, the private space company founded by Jeff Bezos, has successfully completed its 13th crewed suborbital mission, sending six civilian passengers briefly into space aboard its New Shepard rocket.

This flight follows Blue Origin’s previous mission in April, which featured an all-female crew including singer Katy Perry and aviator Lauren Sánchez, who recently married Bezos.

Launched from Launch Site One in West Texas, the NS-33 mission marked another milestone in the growing commercial space race, as the fully autonomous rocket and crew capsule completed the round-trip journey past the Karman line, the internationally recognised boundary of space, in just over 10 minutes.

Liftoff occurred at approximately 10:38am ET after two earlier launch delays due to weather.

The reusable New Shepard booster carried the crew 62 miles above Earth, giving them several minutes of weightlessness and a breathtaking view of the planet before safely returning.

Among the six civilians on board were Allie Kuehner, an environmentalist and conservationist, and her husband Carl Kuehner, a real estate executive.

The couple became the second married pair to fly on a Blue Origin mission. 

They were joined by a philanthropist and former CEO Leland Larson, a philanthropist and former CEO; Freddie Rescigno Jr, a business leader and competitive golfer; Jim Sitkin, a California attorney; and Owolabi Salis, a Nigerian-born lawyer and financial consultant who made history as the first person from Nigeria to travel to space.