When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle launches on the NS-34 mission on Aug. 3, 2025, carrying six people to suborbital space. | Credit: Blue OriginA wheelchair user will reach space next week for the first time ever, if all goes according to plan.Blue Origin announced today (Dec. 11) that it’s targeting Dec. 18 for its NS-37 mission, which will send six people on a brief trip to suborbital space and back.One of the passengers is Michaela (Michi) Benthaus, an aerospace engineer at the European Space Agency who has used a wheelchair since suffering a spinal cord injury in a 2018 mountain-biking accident. She is poised to break new ground for access and inclusion in human spaceflight.The six passengers on Blue Origin’s upcoming NS-37 suborbital spaceflight. | Credit: Blue OriginNS-37 will lift off from Blue Origin’s West Texas site on Dec. 18 during a window that opens at 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT; 8:30 a.m. local time). The company will stream the action live, beginning about 40 minutes before launch.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAs its name suggests, NS-37 will be the 37th overall flight of Blue Origin’s autonomous New Shepard vehicle, which consists of a crew capsule and a rocket, both of which are reusable.New Shepard flights last 10 to 12 minutes from liftoff to capsule touchdown. Passengers feel a few minutes of weightlessness and see Earth against the blackness of space.The five folks who will get this experience on NS-37 along with Benthaus are investor Joey Hyde, aerospace engineer Hans Koenigsmann, entrepreneur Neal Milch, investor Adonis Pouroulis, and self-proclaimed “space nerd” Jason Stansell.Other space nerds may recognize Koenigsmann’s name: He was one of the first employees at SpaceX, working there from 2002 to 2021. For roughly half of that time, he served as the company’s vice president of build and flight reliability and was a frequent participant in launch webcasts and press conferences.The patch for Blue Origin’s NS-37 suborbital tourism mission. | Credit: Blue OriginBlue Origin, which was founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, also released the NS-37 mission patch today, along with an explanation of what some of its symbols mean. Here’s that explanation, verbatim from the company:The DNA symbolizes the importance and impact of science to Neal Milch.The hippo represents Michaela (Michi) Benthaus’ favorite animal …
