Blue Origin stops space tourism operations

Blue Origin announced at the end of January that it would stop New Shepard flights, redirecting resources to speed up the process of developing the ability to send humans to the Moon. “This decision demonstrates Blue Origin’s commitment to the national goal of returning to the Moon and establishing a long-term, sustainable presence there,” a company representative said.

Blue Origin has signed a contract to send NASA astronauts to the Moon using the Blue Moon spacecraft developed by the company. If all goes well, Blue Moon will do this on the Artemis 5 mission, scheduled for 2029. However, Blue Origin can reach the Moon sooner because the company plans to launch a prototype to the surface of this celestial body later this year.

Artemis 2 is the first crewed mission in NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon. Artemis 2 could take place as early as February 8, when the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft take four astronauts to space around the Moon. Next is the Artemis 3 and 4 missions, expected to use SpaceX’s Starship to transport people to the celestial surface.

Last month, NASA Director Jared Isaacman announced on X that he met with SpaceX and Blue Origin representatives to learn more about the latest plan to accelerate the implementation of the Artemis program.

The reusable ship New Shepard was first launched in April 2015. To date, the ship has performed a total of 38 missions, including 17 human-carrying missions, bringing a total of 92 passengers to suborbital space, including 6 passengers who flew twice. The most recent mission took place last week. Each New Shepard flight lasts a total of 10-12 minutes, allowing passengers to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and watch the Earth stand out against the dark backdrop of space.