Overview
- Blue Origin’s NS-37 lifted off from West Texas on Dec. 20 with six passengers, reaching about 100–106 kilometers for roughly 10–11 minutes before safe booster and capsule landings.
- The capsule required no modifications, and Blue Origin used a transfer board at the hatch, an existing pad elevator, and a recovery carpet to expedite access to Benthaus’s wheelchair after touchdown.
- Benthaus, 33, became the first person who uses a wheelchair to cross the Kármán line, building on prior microgravity training flights and aiming to inform future accessibility practices.
- Hans Koenigsmann, a retired SpaceX executive, helped arrange and sponsor the seat and flew to assist if needed after a year of planning and tests with Blue Origin’s Crewmember 7 team.
- Blue Origin described the mission as part of widening access to suborbital tourism and said New Shepard’s flight rate is expected to increase in 2026 following this 16th crewed mission.