NS-36 Targeting Liftoff on October 8 From Launch Site One

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket is targeting October 8 for the launch of its 15th crewed and 36th all-time launch. The mission will carry 6 passengers, including businessmen, entrepreneurs, photographers, and even one anonymous figure, to the internationally recognized boundary of space.

The launch window opens at 8:00 am Central Time, with a live webcast beginning 30 minutes before liftoff on Blue Origin’s website and social media channels. The brief (yet pricey) suborbital flight will give passengers a few minutes of weightlessness and panoramic views of Earth from roughly 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the ground.

The NS-36 crew includes Jeff Elgin, Danna Karagussova, Dr. Clint Kelly III, Aaron Newman, Vitalii Ostrovsky, and one who has chosen to remain anonymous until after the flight. Kelly will be making his second trip to space, having first flown on the NS-22 mission in 2022. This launch will bring the total number of New Shepard passengers to 75, with the addition of several repeat flyers.

Each crew member brings a unique background to the mission. Elgin is a franchise industry executive who founded FranChoice, a major US business consulting network. Karagussova is a media entrepreneur and mountaineer known for co-founding Portals, a project that integrates art and technology. Kelly, an engineer and robotics pioneer, helped launch DARPA’s early driverless vehicle program and has photographed wildlife on every continent. Newman is a serial tech entrepreneur, veteran, and deep-sea explorer, while Ostrovsky is a Ukrainian investor and world traveler who has lived and worked in more than 100 countries.

Blue Origin also unveiled the official NS-36 mission patch, which incorporates personalized symbols for each crew member, such as the Moon and Earth for Kelly, Kazakhstan’s mountains for Karagussova, a Ukrainian starfield for Ostrovsky, and an anchor representing Newman’s dedication to exploration and conservation.

The New Shepard program has been operating human flights since 2021, with all missions so far launching and landing successfully from the same site in West Texas. The rocket and capsule are fully reusable, designed to make suborbital space travel more accessible to private citizens and researchers alike.

FMI: www.blueorigin.com