Blue Origin successfully launched its third crewed suborbital flight, NS-33, on June 29 from Launch Site One in West Texas. The mission carried six people to space, including a married couple and an attorney facing legal trouble.
The New Shepard vehicle lifted off at 10:40 a.m. Eastern and performed a powered landing seven and a half minutes later. The capsule landed nearly three minutes after reaching a peak altitude of 105 kilometers above ground level, touching down under parachutes within a few hundred meters of the booster.
This flight was notable for its precise landing, which deviated significantly from previous New Shepard flights. Blue Origin relied on drone footage to document the recovery operations, possibly due to low winds at the launch site.
The passengers included Owolabi Salis, an attorney and financial consultant disbarred in 2022; Allie and Carl Kuehner, a married couple with conservationist and real estate backgrounds; Leland Larson, former chief executive of bus companies; Freddie Rescigno Jr., owner of electrical cable manufacturer Commodity Cables; and Jim Sitkin, retired labor attorney.
This mission follows previous crewed flights in February and May, as well as payload-only missions. Blue Origin’s CEO, Dave Limp, has stated that flying New Shepard is a “good business,” despite the company’s focus on other projects.
Source: https://spacenews.com/blue-origin-launches-third-new-shepard-mission-within-three-months