Blue Origin launches 4th suborbital human flight
It was the company's fourth crewed spaceflight
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Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle launched and landed successfully Thursday morning from its West Texas site.
The rocket lifted off at 9:57 a.m. CT, with a maximum ascent velocity of 2,236 mph.
The astronauts of the company's fourth crewed suborbital spaceflight touched down at 9:07 a.m. CT, following a nearly hour-long hold.
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The cause of the hold was not specified.
"Capsule touchdown! Welcome back to [Earth] #NS20," Blue Origin tweeted.
The mission, known as NS-20 for the 20th spaceflight of a New Shepard vehicle, sent six astronauts above the Kármán Line.
The ride lasted for just over 10 minutes.
The NS-20, or "Roaring Twenties," crew included Party America CEO Marty Allen, philanthropist and Tricor International CEO Marc Hagle and his wife, Sharon Hagle, entrepreneur Jim Kitchen and Commercial Space Technologies President Dr. George Nield.
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The original flight from Van Horn was scheduled for March 23, but was later pushed back for more testing.
"Saturday Night Live" comedian Pete Davidson was also initially supposed to be onboard the capsule, but backed out for unknown reasons.
His spot was filled by Gary Lai, one of the original Origin Blue crew members.
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This was the first flight that did not feature a celebrity passenger.
"I don't know that I could even – words could do that justice," Lai said on the ground after the flight. He said he experienced a bit of a feeling of vertigo and nausea.
"What an amazing mission from Launch Site One. Congrats to all of Team Blue on executing and supporting today’s flight," Blue Origin later tweeted.
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Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos launched on the first New Shepard rocket in July 2021.
The company is one of several private companies launching into the space tourism industry, alongside Elon Musk and Virgin Galactic.
It's unclear how much Allen, the Hagles, Kitchen and Nield paid for their seats on the flight and Blue Origin has not disclosed ticket prices. Lai apparently flew for free.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.