TEXAS — For its ninth crewed flight, Blue Origin successfully launched six civilians — including a returning Florida couple —  to space on Friday morning. 

The New Shepard rocket took off from Launch Site One in West Texas at 10:30 a.m. ET, stated Blue Origin.

The half dozen crew went beyond the Kármán line (the internationally established edge of space at 62 miles/100 kilometers in the Washington-state company’s nearly 60-foot-tall (18 meter) rocket.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard’s rocket booster reached a speed of more than 2,000 mph/3,219 kph before the stage separation of the capsule. The rocket booster landed back on the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

New Shepard rocket booster landed on the ground, very similar to what SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets do.

Once they reached their destination at an altitude of about 347,312 feet/105,334 meters, they unbuckled from their seats and experience the joys of microgravity for a few minutes. But once the commercial suborbital space crew had their fun, they got back into seats as the space capsule returned to Earth.

Once they re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, three parachutes and retro-thrusters slowed down the space capsule named RSS First Step for a gentle touchdown on the Texan soil.

After the launch, Blue Origin posted some stats of the mission.

Discovering the crew

Marc and Sharon Hagle: They are no strangers to riding on a New Shepard rocket as this Winter Park married couple did it back in 2022. Sharon Hagle is the founder of the nonprofit SpaceKids Global and Marc Hagle is the president and CEO of the residential and commercial property development company Tricor International.

Emily Calandrelli: She is an MIT engineer who is also the host of Xploration Outer Space and a New York Times best-selling author.

“That kick in the pants at separation is wild,” she said, who became the 100th woman in space.

She said that viewing the Earth from space for the first time was very emotional for her, equating it as when she gave birth to her children.

Austin Litteral: This husband and father of two girls is also a risk management professional. He always had a passion for NASA’s shuttle launches and his NS 28 mission trip is sponsored by Whatnot.

James Russell: He is the founder of InfoHOA, a technology-based community management solutions company. He also founded the Victoria Russell Foundation in memory of his late daughter.

“The view is amazing and I can tell you that there’s really nothing ever in the world like going into space,” he said.

Henry Wolfond: The Bayshore Capitol CEO and chairman has a passion for flying as he also is a professional pilot for charter, medevac and organ retrieval flights. He has either chaired or on the board of various organizations such as the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee or being the co-founder of the Autism Acceptance Project.

Wolfond said seeing our planet from space, you do not see borders or divisions or the lines that divide people.

Learn more about the crew here.

Watch the launch