Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin targeting May 31 for 12th space tourism launch

Blue Origin’s 12th human spaceflight mission will launch this weekend, if all goes according to plan.

Blue Origin, which was founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, announced on Tuesday (May 27) that it’s targeting Saturday (May 31) for its next crewed suborbital flight.

That mission — called NS-32, because it will be the 32nd overall mission of the reusable New Shepard vehicle — will lift off from Blue Origin’s West Texas site during a window that opens at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT; 8:30 a.m. local Texas time). Blue Origin will stream the action live, beginning 30 minutes before liftoff.

NS-32 will carry six people to suborbital space and back, on a flight that will last a total of 10 to 12 minutes.

Those passengers are Panamanian businessman and attorney Jaime Alemán, who served as that nation’s ambassador to the United States; radiologist, life coach and explorer Gretchen Green; entrepreneur and real estate developer Paul Jeris; award-winning middle school and high school teacher Aymette Medina Jorge; the aptly named Mark Rocket, an entrepreneur from New Zealand; and Canadian entrepreneur, adventurer and mountaineer Jesse Williams.

You can learn more about all six in Blue Origin’s NS-32 crew reveal update.

Blue Origin’s first-ever crewed spaceflight took place on July 20, 2021, the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Bezos himself flew on that mission, along with his brother Jeff, aviation pioneer Wally Funk and Dutch student Oliver Daemen.

The company has flown a number of celebrities on its crewed missions, including famed “Star Trek” actor William Shatner in October 2021 and pop star Katy Perry just last month.