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Jeff Bezos is sending his girlfriend to space, no launch date set for first all-female mission

Remember in 2021 when we were so excited that both Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic would come online and show a glimpse of a potential space tourism boom? Yet here we are with some exciting news, but neither company is currently capable of launching, and we don’t know when they will return fully. Sigh.

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blue origin launch new shepard rocket

When is the next Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launch?

Since 2015 Blue Origin has been launching its New Shepard suborbital rocket from its facility in Van Horne, Texas. Additionally, in 2021 Blue Origin began launching paying customers atop its rocket for a 10-minute joy ride. The next launch of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket, this time without crew is set for September 12 at 8:30 a.m. CDT. [Launch failure, read more here]

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Blue Origin gains a repeat passenger, ‘Crypto Space Agency’ buys a seat to space on company’s 5th crewed spaceflight

While Richard Branson may have won the ‘billionaire space race‘ in one way, the fact that Virgin Galactic hasn’t flown since makes it clear that the real winners here are Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Looking toward Blue Origin’s fifth crewed spaceflight, the company will have a repeat passenger, as Evan Dick is set to take the joyride to space and back once again after his first flight late last year.

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Gary Lai, Blue Origin’s Chief Architect of New Shepard, taking over Pete Davidson’s seat to space

NS-20, Blue Origin’s fourth human flight, is set to launch in just over a week. We’ve been waiting for the announcement of the sixth crew member after Pete Davidson left the crew. Now, that sixth crew member has been announced: Gary Lai, the senior director and chief architect of New Shepard, will be riding the vehicle he’s spent so long designing into space.

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Pete Davidson no longer on Blue Origin’s NS-20 flight to space – 6th crew member to be announced ‘in the coming days’

Pete Davidson’s planned flight to space was rumored long before it was announced, then Blue Origin confirmed the rumor earlier this week, announcing that Davidson and five customers would be flying to space on NS-20. Now, a new member will be selected to take Davidson’s place, as he is “no longer able to join the NS-20 crew on this mission.”

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Crypto-entrepreneur won Blue Origin auction: Could you be 1 of 5 to join his flight to space?

Back in June, Blue Origin’s auction for a seat on the first crewed flight of New Shepard ended with a $28 million bid. Yet as the first flight came around the winner was not announced. Instead, 18 year old Oliver Daemon joined the first flight and became the youngest person to fly in space.

Blue Origin only said that ‘scheduling issues’ stopped the auction winner from participating in the flight, but did not reveal the winner’s identity. Now the winner has been revealed as H.E. Justin Sun, and five people will be invited to join him on his journey to space.

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Live Blog: Blue Origin launching second crew of four to space on New Shepard

Blue Origin is preparing to launch NS-18 from their West Texas facility with a crew of four on Wednesday. NS-18 will be the company’s second crewed flight, with the most notable member being William Shatner, the original Captain Kirk from Star Trek. The launch will be a short hop above 100 km to give the crew about 4 minutes of weightlessness. Check below for updates on the launch of NS-18.

Date: Wednesday, October 13 at 10:50 a.m. EDT

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[Update: New target] Blue Origin targeting next New Shepard mission with NASA tech and art installation on Wednesday

Update: Blue Origin is pushing back the mission target by 24 hours.

Blue Origin has announced its next New Shepard rocket mission called NS-17 will take place on Wednesday, August 25. The mission carrying NASA technology and a special art installation will be an uncrewed spaceflight following founder Jeff Bezos’ trip to space on NS-16.

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