Blue Origin is launching another brief space flight from Texas, this time with a cryptocurrency billionaire and five other successful professionals.
This will be the first commercial space flight since June 29. Blue Origin went viral in April for its first all-woman crew, which included pop star Katy Perry and television personality Gayle King. The New Shepard spacecraft will once again travel more than 60 miles from the launch site, past the Kármán line — the internationally recognized boundary of space. This flight will give passengers several minutes of weightlessness and panoramic views of Earth.
Here’s what to know about Blue Origin’s NS-34 launch.
Blue Origin’s next crewed flight, NS-34, is scheduled to lift off around 7:30 a.m. CDT on Sunday, Aug. 3.
The livestream will appear on Blue Origin’s YouTube channel around 30 minutes before the scheduled liftoff.
Six people will be on the NS-34 mission. Blue Origin reports the funds from the flight’s “tickets,” which total about $28 million, will go to “19 space-focused charities to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEAM and help shape the future of life in space.
The launch is happening at Launch Site One, situated in the desert southwest, 30 miles north of Van Horn in Far West Texas.
Blue Origin is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
— Brandi D. Addison, USA TODAY Network, contributed to this report.
