2022 File video: Blue Origin launched its sixth group of space tourists from its West Texas launch site near Van Horn Thursday morning.
VAN HORN, Texas – Blue Origin is preparing to launch six people to the edge of space from Texas as soon as this Sunday, marking the private space company’s first human spaceflight since 2022.
The mission will launch from Van Horn, sending former U.S. Air Force test pilot Ed Dwight and five others to the edge of space in the New Shepard capsule.
Dwight, now 90 years old, was selected by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to train under the U.S. Air Force program that would later produce NASA’s first astronauts. Ultimately, he wasn’t chosen to advance into NASA’s astronaut program. It would take another 20 years before Guion Bluford Jr. would become NASA’s first Black astronaut.
Blue Origin said the launch window opens at 8:30 a.m. CT (9:30 a.m. ET). A webcast of the countdown and launch will begin about 40 minutes before liftoff.
FILE PHOTO: Ed Dwight, Jr. holds images and news clips that he saved from his time as an astronaut in his studio in Denver, Colorado on Thursday, June 27, 2019. (Photo by Kelsey Brunner/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
When it happens, the launch will be Blue Origin’s first human spaceflight since a September 2022 uncrewed mission ended in an emergency abort. After a joint investigation with the Federal Aviation Administration, the company returned to flight in December, launching an uncrewed capsule with low-gravity research.
NS-25 will mark Blue Origin’s seventh human spaceflight for the New Shepard program.
Blue Origin has launched more than 30 paying customers above the Karman line, the internationally recognized boundary of space, for an 11-minute experience in zero gravity.
The NS-25 crew: Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Kenneth L. Hess, Carol Schaller, Gopi Thotakura, and former Air Force Captain Ed Dwight.
(Blue Origin)
The nonprofit Space for Humanity covers the cost of space tourism flights to help more people experience what astronauts call the “overview effect.” The organization has sponsored four seats with Blue Origin, including Dwight’s.
The other passengers on New Shepard’s 25th flight include individuals involved in business, exploration, amateur farming and philanthropy.