Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ private spaceflight company Blue Origin, will launch its second crewed mission to space with William Shatner on Wednesday, October 13th.
Blue Origin announced Tuesday, Oct. 12, that the New Shepard rocket will lift off at 10 a.m. ET (11 a.m. local; 1400 GMT) after a delay of 24 hours due to high winds at Blue Origin’s launch site near Van Horn in Texas.
Blue Origin's new launch target is now 30 minutes earlier than originally planned. Blue Origin officials stated Tuesday that the launch target shift was due to wind forecasts at vehicle rollout. "Weather is favorable for launch at the moment."
Live Updates: William Shatner's Blue Origin Launch on New Shepard
More: Blue Origin launches William Shatner
William Shatner (second right) will be flying with three private citizens in a Blue Origin suborbital flight. From left: Glen de Vries (Vice Chair for Life Sciences and Healthcare at French Software Company Dassault Systmes); Audrey Powers (Blue Origin vice president of Mission and Flight Operations); and Chris Boshuizen (Co-founder of Planet Earth-Observation Company). Blue Origin image credit
Shatner, Shatner and three of his crewmates will fly for 11 minutes above the Krmn line (62 miles (100 km)), which is internationally recognized as the boundary of space.
After a brief period of weightlessness, New Shepard's capsule will return to Earth. The mission will be completed with a parachute assisted landing at Blue Origin's West Texas facility. The New Shepard rocket will be released from the capsule just before crew members reach their highest altitude. It will land separately within a few minutes.
Blue Origin's New Shepard: The flight profile. Blue Origin Image Credit
Blue Origin will broadcast the launch and landing live starting approximately 90 minutes prior to liftoff or at 8:30 AM EDT (1230 GMT) if it is still on schedule.
Blue Origin has made it possible to watch the launch live on Space.com. Or, you can directly access the YouTube channel.
Blue Origin NS-18 mission timeline (subject for change) T+/- Webcast starts at 8:15 a.m.
Send Hanneke Weitering an email at hweitering@space.com. Follow her @hannekescience. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @Spacedotcom
