Blastoff! Blue Origin launches space tourists for first time in almost 2 years

YouTube ^ | May 19, 2024 | VideoFromSpace

[SunkenCiv]

A Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launched the NS-25 mission from Texas on May 19, 2025. Full Story...

According to Space.com, the Six people aboard were Ed Dwight, the U.S.'s first-ever Black astronaut candidate; venture capitalist Mason Angel; Sylvain Chiron, the founder of French craft brewery Brasserie Mont Blanc; entrepreneur Kenneth L. Hess; retired accountant Carol Schaller; and pilot and aviator Gopi Thotakura.

Credit: Blue Origin

Blastoff! Blue Origin launches space tourists for first time in almost 2 years | 11:58
VideoFromSpace | 1.77M subscribers | 45,450 views | May 19, 2024

[SunkenCiv]

Bezos' company hasn't been able to deliver the scaled-up version of the methane-burning engine used in the hopper joy ride (which is the only one flying).

They'd probably have learned some things if they'd made an orbital class rocket out of the hopper and wouldn't be years behind delivering their seven-BE-4 engine New Glenn. ULA is also kept waiting for the BE-4, as they changed their plans to use that instead in 2018. There's a 'news story' here in the search results from September 2023, that Blue Origin was preparing to produce hundreds of them.

Meanwhile, Musk's apparent plan to have the Starship replace the Falcon 9 has been postponed and to great effect. If he'd taken the leap and ditched a working orbital system, he'd be sitting at the kiddie table with Bezos.

The Starlink constellation of terrestrial comm satellites continues to get launched, the Falcon 9 autonomous propulsive landings on unmanned autonomous barges has had a crazy-high rate of success, and the first completely successful Starship launch before 2025 appears likely.

[SunkenCiv]

• Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz says Elon Musk "hates me and goes out of his way to interfere with my life." Elon Musk says he "never heard of her." [05/20/2024]

[SunkenCiv]

Plus, LM has never stated any such thing.