Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company, Blue Origin, successfully completed its latest crewed mission, NS-38, from its site in West Texas tonight.
Despite a brief 25-minute wait during the final countdown that momentarily increased tension at launch site one, the New Shepard rocket came to life at approximately 9:55 pm IST.
This flight marked the 38th overall for the New Shepard program and the 17th time the vehicle has carried humans to the edge of space.
While the mission was an exciting ride for its passengers, it also reinforced the company’s focus on fully reusable rocket technology. Unlike many traditional rockets used by NASA, the New Shepard system is designed to land vertically, allowing nearly the entire vehicle to be reused for future flights.
TOUCHDOWN: RETURN BOOST AND CAPSULE SAFELY
The mission concluded with a manual recovery of both vehicle components. Following separation at the edge of space, the reusable booster performed a flawless autonomous return, reigniting its BE-3 engine to slow its descent and make a precise vertical landing on the concrete pad.
Minutes later, the crew capsule, carrying six private citizens, descended under a cover of three huge parachutes. A final “retro push” fire cushioned the impact, resulting in a soft landing in the Texas desert, officially bringing the 11-minute journey to a successful close.
THE CREW AND THE EXPERIENCE
NS-38’s six-person crew included a diverse group of people from various professional backgrounds, all united by the shared dream of seeing Earth from above.
The team included entrepreneur Tim Drexler, retired obstetrician Dr. Linda Edwards, international real estate developer Alain Fernández and travel technology founder Alberto Gutiérrez.
They were joined by retired US Air Force Colonel Jim Hendren and Blue Origin’s Director of New Shepard Launch Operations Laura Stiles. Stiles was a late addition to the crew, stepping in after Andrew Yaffe unfortunately had to withdraw from the flight due to illness.
The team was led by Tim Drexler, a former CEO who spent four decades building his family’s civil contracting business, Ace Asphalt, into an industry leader.
Drexler, winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, pursued his passion for aviation after retirement and became a licensed helicopter and airplane pilot. For him, the leap into suborbital space represented the final frontier in a journey through the skies that would last a lifetime.
Retired, board-certified OB-GYN Dr. Linda Edwards fulfilled a forty-year dream with tonight’s flight. Dr. Edwards, a two-time breast cancer survivor and award-winning equestrian, has traveled to over 40 countries and is a strong advocate for wildlife.
By reaching for the stars, she hopes to inspire other women to pursue their most ambitious dreams, regardless of age or personal health battles.
Alain Fernández, an international real estate developer, brought a story of incredible resilience to the mission. At age 22, he survived a life-changing diving accident while working as a diving instructor in French Polynesia.
His three-decade career in real estate was built on the discipline he learned while recovering and reinventing himself. For Fernández, the New Shepard flight was another opportunity to push the boundaries of the possible.
Alberto Gutiérrez, a Spanish technologist and businessman, considered the mission the pinnacle of his travels.
Having visited more than 100 countries and founded Civitatis, a leading platform for global tours, Gutiérrez has spent his life exploring the Earth. Tonight, he finally got the “overview effect,” seeing the world he had documented from the outside looking in.
Jim Hendren, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and former F-15 fighter pilot, added a layer of military precision to the cockpit.
Hendren, a former Arkansas state senator and founder of Hendren Plastics, has multiple combat deployments under his belt. He saw the mission as a natural extension of his service and his lifelong passion for exploration and public service.
The last seat was taken by Blue Origin’s Laura Stiles, New Shepard’s director of launch operations. Stiles was a late addition to the manifesto, replacing Andrew Yaffe, who retired due to illness.
Stiles, a competitive skydiver and world record-holding aerospace engineer, has spent years leading the team that designs launch procedures. His transition from mission leader to astronaut provided the crew with unique career insight during their ascent.
The mission followed a precise suborbital trajectory. After a vertical takeoff at 21:55 IST on Thursday, the booster propelled the capsule towards the Karman line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.
Upon reaching this height, the capsule separated, allowing passengers to unbuckle and experience weightlessness for approximately three minutes. From this vantage point, they viewed the curvature of the Earth against the darkness of the universe through the largest windows ever built into a spacecraft.
PRECISION LANDING AND REUSE
The engineering behind the flight was as impressive as the view. As the capsule moved forward in microgravity, the booster rocket returned autonomously to Earth.
It used its BE-3 liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen engine to slow down and make a precise vertical landing on a concrete pad. Meanwhile, the crew capsule began its own descent, protected by a heat shield before deploying three large parachutes.
Just before hitting the desert floor, a “pushback” system was triggered to ensure the landing was as soft as possible. The entire trip took approximately 11 minutes.
BEYOND TOURISM
While the focus was on passengers, the mission also carried research payloads inside the crew capsule.
These small experiments took advantage of the brief period of microgravity to test everything from fluid physics to new space technologies, benefiting a broad community of researchers.
With 100 percent of the dry mass of the New Shepard booster designed for reuse, Blue Origin is making space more accessible.
– Finish
