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News Link • Space Travel and Exploration
What time is Blue Origin's private NS-26 astronaut launch on Aug. 29 (and how to watch live)
• https://www.space.com, By Elizabeth HowellBlue Origin is set to launch another six people to space on Thursday (Aug. 29), and you can watch it live online.
Blue Origin is currently targeting Thursday to send six space tourists to suborbital space aboard the company's New Shepard booster and RSS First Step capsule. Liftoff is scheduled for 9 a.m. EDT (8 a.m. CDT; 1330 GMT) from the company's West Texas spaceport.
The mission, called NS-26, will be Blue Origin's second crewed space mission since an anomaly two years ago. The company stopped launching people for nearly two years after an uncrewed New Shepard launch failed in September 2022. Following the successful launch of the uncrewed NS-24 science flight in December 2023, launches resumed with people with the NS-25 flight in May 2024. Read on for details about NS-26, including launch timing, who's flying on it and how to follow along.
Blue Origin plans to launch six people at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) on Thursday. It will fly to space from the company's Launch Site One in West Texas, near the town of Van Horn. In Texas, the local time will be 8 a.m.
Launches are always subject to change due to technical or weather conditions, so don't be shocked if NS-26 doesn't get off the ground exactly 9 a.m. EDT. Blue Origin will likely publish mission updates via X.
Yes, Blue Origin's NS-26 launch will be available online. Blue Origin will air a live webcast on its NS-26 mission page and the company's YouTube channel. Blue Origin has said the webcast will start about 40 minutes before liftoff.
With a nominal launch time of 9 a.m. EDT, the webcast would begin at roughly 8:20 a.m. EDT (1220 GMT/7:20 a.m. CDT). The webcast will also be available at the top of this page and via Space.com, as a simulcast.