Blue Origin launched its 13th human spaceflight mission on June 29, with six travelers flying just beyond the Kármán Line in the company's most recent crewed suborbital trip. The vehicle launched at 9:39 a.m. CDT (1439 GMT) from Launch Site One in West Texas. The passengers—Allie and Carl Kuehner, Leland Larson, Freddie Rescigno Jr., Owolabi Salis, and James Sitkin—spent about three minutes in microgravity onboard the New Shepard spacecraft before landing safely in the West Texas desert with parachutes cushioned by air thrusters.
Carl Kuehner becomes the 750th human in space with Blue Origin's NS-33 suborbital flight
According to a mission update from Blue Origin, Carl Kuehner became the 750th human to enter space, as reported by the Association of Space Explorers. The milestone was decided by his assigned seat on the RSS Kármán Line capsule, which soared 345,044 feet (105.2 kilometers) over the internationally recognized space frontier. Kuehner is also the 70th space traveler for Blue Origin, as part of the 33rd New Shepard voyage, formally known as NS-33.
We just completed our 13th human spaceflight and the 33rd flight of the New Shepard program. The astronaut crew included Allie Kuehner and her husband, Carl Kuehner, Leland Larson, Freddie Rescigno, Jr., Owolabi Salis, and Jim Sitkin. To date, New Shepard has flown 70 people to… pic.twitter.com/A3cHMAefZs
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) June 29, 2025
The crew witnessed the breathtaking image of Earth's curvature contrasted against the blackness of space. In addition to the six-person crew dubbed "The Solstice 33" due to its delayed solstice launch, more over 1,000 postcards from kids were taken up as part of Blue Origin's "Club for the Future" outreach.
The passengers represented a wide range of vocations, including law, real estate, transportation, and environmental activism. Although Blue Origin has yet to announce a ticket price for these flights, the mission is another indication of the growing momentum in space tourism and commercial space travel at suborbital heights.
The NS-33 mission increased the overall number of persons who had flown in suborbital space to 123. Every such launch puts Blue Origin one step closer to achieving its aim of opening space to mankind, as well as demonstrating the reliability of its technology and humanity's insatiable need for space.
