Blue Origin Postpones New Shepard Launch with Six Crew Members Due to Technical Difficulties

Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, has postponed the launch of a crew of six on a suborbital joyride scheduled for December 18 due to an undefined issue, following earlier delays caused by high winds.

The New Shepard rocket was set to take off from West Texas around 11 am New York time, marking a mission that would feature the first wheelchair user to reach space as well as one of SpaceX’s original engineers.

“Today’s NS-37 mission has been paused after the launch team detected an issue with our built-in checks ahead of the flight,” Blue Origin stated in a social media update. “We are currently exploring our next opportunity for launch.”

Today’s NS-37 mission has been paused after the launch team detected an issue with our built-in checks ahead of the flight. We are currently exploring our next opportunity for launch.

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) December 18, 2025

The crew for Thursday’s mission included Michaela Benthaus, an aerospace engineer at the European Space Agency who was injured in a mountain biking accident in 2018. Hans Koenigsmann worked at SpaceX for 20 years, most recently serving as the company’s vice president of avionics before his retirement in 2021.

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This launch will mark the 16th human spaceflight for Bezos’ tourism enterprise utilizing New Shepard, a compact vehicle designed for brief journeys to the edge of space and research missions.

While Blue Origin keeps the price for a seat on its tourism flights undisclosed, competitor Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. charges approximately $600,000 for a comparable experience.

In April, pop star Katy Perry, Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sánchez, and CBS News host Gayle King participated in a flight, becoming part of the first all-female crew to visit space in over 60 years.

The company also operates the much larger, heavy-lift New Glenn rocket, which can transport spacecraft and satellites into orbit and beyond.

Also read | Blue Origin launches huge rocket carrying twin NASA spacecraft to Mars

In November, Blue Origin successfully completed a second flight of the New Glenn, deploying two NASA spacecraft bound for Mars and expertly landing its reusable booster on a barge in the Atlantic.