Skip to main content

Take a tour inside Blue Origin’s crew capsule for space tourists

On the same day that Blue Origin set a new record for the most launch and landings for a single rocket booster, the company offered its first-ever video tour of the inside of its crew capsule.

Recommended Videos

Blue Origin, set up by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2000, has built the capsule for its New Shepard rocket, which has already taken multiple uncrewed flights since its first outing five years ago.

The capsule, when certified for human flight, will carry up to six space tourists and researchers at a time on short sub-orbital space trips high above Earth.

At first glance, it’s the capsule’s enormous windows that really stand out. Described by Blue Origin as the largest windows to ever fly in space, they’ll afford passengers aboard the capsule stunning views of our planet from around 340,000 feet up — slightly above the Karman Line that’s widely considered as the starting point of space.

The reclining seats certainly look the part, too, offering travelers plenty of comfort during their trip of a lifetime. They won’t be sitting in them the whole time, either, as they’ll be able to unbuckle for a few minutes of weightlessness midway through the adventure.

For extra safety, the base of each seat includes a scissor mechanism to reduce any downward force experienced on landing, though the capsule’s parachutes will of course slow its speed significantly before it reaches the ground.

The capsule also includes numerous cameras so that travelers aboard the spacecraft will be able to share their memories with everyone back on terra firma — just be sure to know when to stop going on about it at dinner parties.

The various stages of Blue Origin’s flight for space tourists. Blue Origin

During the ascent, the capsule will reach speeds of around 2,200 mph. Following the separation of the capsule from the booster at around 250,000 feet, the capsule will go on to reach a peak altitude of around 340,000 feet. The entire experience from launch to landing will last around 11 minutes.

Blue Origin isn’t the only company planning to offer out-of-this-world trips to high-paying tourists.

Virgin Galactic, backed by billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, is moving toward the launch of a service similar to Blue Origin’s, while SpaceX is planning more ambitious trips, including to the International Space Station.

Despite the excitement surrounding what would undoubtedly be an incredible experience, there are those who oppose the idea, describing it as “a wholly unnecessary use of resources by a very small elite of people and organizations” and which may cause damage to the environment.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Blue Origin highlights reel celebrates its first space tourism flight of 2022
Blue Origin launching its fourth crewed flight.

Blue Origin has shared a video showing highlights from its first space tourism mission of 2022.

The Journey of NS-20

Read more
Michael Strahan describes Blue Origin rocket ride as ‘a special journey’
New Shepard lifts off from Launch Site One in West Texas for the NS-16 mission on July 20, 2021.

New York Giants football legend and Good Morning America co-anchor Michael Strahan has been talking about his recent trip to the edge of space, describing the adventure as “a special journey" and "almost like an out-of-body experience."

Strahan blasted skyward courtesy of Blue Origin in what was the spaceflight company’s third crewed mission using its suborbital New Shepard rocket.

Read more
Blue Origin launches crew of six space tourists to the edge of space
The crew of New Shepard NS-19. Pictured from left to right: Dylan Taylor, Lane Bess, Cameron Bess, Laura Shepard Churchley, Michael Strahan, and Evan Dick.

Blue Origin has successfully launched a six-person crew to the edge of space for the first time. The company, founded by Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, took a crew of private astronauts including a football star and the daughter of an astronaut on a 10-minute flight to the boundary between Earth and space in its NS-19 mission.

The mission, using a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket, blasted off from Van Horn in Texas at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT) on Saturday, December 11. The full crew consisted of four paying passengers (including a father and his child, the first time such a pair has flown on the same spaceflight), plus Blue Origin guests Laura Shepard Churchley, daughter of the first U.S. astronaut Alan Shepard, and former New York Giants football star and current TV host Michael Strahan.

Read more