The launch will take place from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One, with the launch window opening at 8:30am CST (2:30pm UTC). Live coverage of the mission will begin around 30 minutes before lift-off via the company’s website.
The six-person crew for NS-38 includes Tim Drexler, Dr Linda Edwards, Alain Fernandez, Alberto Gutiérrez, Jim Hendren and Andrew Yaffe. The flight will carry the passengers above the Kármán line, the internationally recognised boundary of space, offering several minutes of weightlessness before returning to Earth.
Blue Origin said the mission continues the company’s expanding human spaceflight program. To date, New Shepard has flown 92 people into space, representing 86 individual passengers.
The crew brings together a diverse mix of backgrounds spanning business, medicine, aviation, technology and public service. Among them are a former asphalt company chief executive turned pilot, a retired obstetrician and gynaecologist, an international real estate developer, a global travel technology entrepreneur, a retired US Air Force fighter pilot and former state legislator, and a recycling industry professional with a longstanding interest in space and astronomy.
New Shepard is a fully reusable, autonomous rocket system designed to carry crew and research payloads on brief suborbital missions. Blue Origin said the program is aimed at broadening access to space while supporting scientific research and commercial activity.
Mission NS-38 will mark the company’s latest step in its growing cadence of crewed launches as Blue Origin continues to position itself as a key player in the commercial human spaceflight market.