Blue Origin pauses trips on rocket that carried Bezos and Perry to upper atmosphere

[Teletubby 165,080]

Blue Origin announced Friday that it is pausing flights aboard its suborbital space tourism rocket New Shepard for at least two years and redirecting teams and resources to accelerate its human lunar flight program.
Since 2021, New Shepard has provided 10-minute flights to the edge of space for wealthy thrill seekers, celebrities and special guests.

The company, founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, said in a Friday statement that it’s halting the joyrides for at least two years in order to “shift resources to further accelerate development of the company’s human lunar capabilities.”

Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX each hold a NASA contract to develop a vehicle capable of ferrying astronauts from deep space to the lunar surface.

As of now, SpaceX is slated to supply the lander that will complete NASA’s first moon-landing mission since the Apollo era, called Artemis III, that is currently scheduled to take off by 2028 but could suffer additional delays — in part because the SpaceX lander may not be ready in time.

Blue Origin said Friday that its decision to stop flights of its suborbital New Shepard space tourism rocket reflect the company’s “commitment to the nation’s goal of returning to the Moon and establishing a permanent, sustained lunar presence.”

It’s not clear how many people hold tickets for future New Shepard flights and who may now have to wait years. Blue Origin also does not disclose the price of its tickets.

Since its first crewed trip in 2021, which lifted off with Blue Origin founder Bezos and several other passengers, the New Shepard rocket has carried a total of 98 people past the the Kármán line, which lies at 62 miles (100 kilometers) above sea level and is commonly used to mark the boundary of outer space. Its passengers have included actor William Shatner, NFL star Michael Strahan, journalist Gayle King and singer Katy Perry.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/30/science/blue-origin-space-tourism-new-shepard-pause

[Guest]

Oh Katy, your impact

[dynamite 67,884]

They're still trying to wash the queefs out of the seat 

Edited January 31 by dynamite

[FfFfFfFF 59,530]

Anything she touches flops.  Now the whole space is cursed because she breathed there for 10 seconds. 

[PartySick 175,765]

Changed the title 'cause accuracy matters