Watch Blue Origin launch its fifth passenger flight to the edge of space

Blue Origin is going to send a crew of six to the edge of space and back out of West Texas on Saturday. The company transitions into making these quick jaunts to space relatively routine without any major celebrities on board.

Two months after Blue Origin's last tourist trip, the flight is back. It was the first time in history that no big names flew. Pete Davidson was supposed to fly with Blue Origin but had to drop out due to scheduling issues. Prior to that flight, Blue Origin had at least one celebrity on board its flights, including Star Trek star William Shatner, and the company's founder, Jeff Bezos.

There are a few notable flyers on this flight. Evan Dick is Blue Origin's first repeat flyer, having already flown to space on the company's third crewed mission. The first Mexican-born woman to fly to space is going to beKatya Echazarreta. Her seat on the flight is sponsored by Space for Humanity, a nonprofit that hopes to expand access to space for all of humanity by funding tickets on Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic flights for those who might not otherwise be able to afford them.

Victor Correa Hespanha is a beneficiary of a sponsored flight. A group of cryptographers call themselves a space agency and are funding space related projects by selling NFTs. Hespanha was randomly chosen to take the first flight after the first NFT drop. CSA members will be able to buy more tickets to space,seek first contact with extra-terrestrial intelligence, and protect the planet from catastrophic asteroid impacts.

Jaison Robinson, an investor, adventurer, and former contestant on the reality TV show, Survivor: Samoa, is also on the flight. Victor Vescovo, who co- founded his own private equity firm, has summited the highest point on each of the seven continents, as well as the deepest point in the ocean.

The six will be riding on Blue Origin's suborbital New Shepard rocket, which is designed to launch passengers to an altitude roughly 65 miles beyond the boundary of space. The vehicle takes off from Blue Origin's launch facility near Van Horn, Texas, carrying customers in a capsule. Customers experience a few minutes of weightlessness when the capsule and rocket separate and they see the Earth from space. The rocket and capsule plummet back to the ground, with the capsule landing under parachutes.

Blue Origin decided to delay the flight because one of New Shepard's backup systems wasn't meeting expectations. The flight is scheduled to return on June 4th, with a launch window set to open at 9 AM. If you have seen a New Shepard flight before, you will see it the same way. If you can't get enough New Shepard flights, Blue Origin's coverage begins an hour before takeoff.