Blue Origin sent up its fifth-ever New Shepard rocket with humans on board

The NS-21 mission lifted off Saturday morning from the company’s West Texas facility with six people on board, one of them the company’s first repeat customer.

The tourism rocket launches and lands in about 11 minutes offering those on board a few minutes of weightlessness and a view of the Earth’s curvature as it speeds up past the Karman line — about 62 miles high — the internationally recognized altitude for someone having gone into space. NS-21 made it past 66 miles altitude.

Though this was the 21st launch of New Shepard overall, the first with humans on board, including company founder billionaire Jeff Bezos, didn’t happen until July 2021. Since then it had flown successfully three more times with notable passengers including “Star Trek” star William Shatner, NFL Hall of Famer Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, daughter of Alan Shepard, the first American in space for whom the rocket is named.

The last flight for New Shepard was on March 31, flying for the second time with the full complement of six passengers.

The capsule touched down at 10 minutes and 5 seconds after liftoff within distance of the launch pad. This was its sixth trip to space, designed for up to 25 flights during its lifespan. Also being reused for its seventh flight was the rocket booster, which successfully touched down at the facility’s landing pad.