NS-20

Gary Lai

• Role: Tourist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 03/31/2022
• Last Flight: 03/31/2022

Gary Lai is the Chief Architect of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket and capsule.
DoB unknown.

George Nield

• Role: Tourist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 03/31/2022
• Last Flight: 03/31/2022

Dr. George Nield is the president of Commercial Space Technologies, LLC, which he founded to encourage, facilitate, and promote commercial space activities. He previously served as associate administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration Office of Commercial Space Transportation and was responsible for licensing and regulating all commercial launch activities. Earlier in his career, he held engineering roles at the Air Force Flight Test Center and the Orbital Sciences Corporation, and he was an assistant professor and research director at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Dr. Nield also served as the manager of the Flight Integration Office for NASA’s Space Shuttle Program.

Jim Kitchen

• Role: Tourist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 03/31/2022
• Last Flight: 03/31/2022

Jim Kitchen is a teacher, entrepreneur, and world explorer who has visited all 193 U.N.-recognized countries.

Marc Hagle

• Role: Tourist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 03/31/2022
• Last Flight: 03/31/2022

Marc Hagle is president and CEO of Tricor International, a residential and commercial property development corporation.

Marty Allen

• Role: Tourist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 03/31/2022
• Last Flight: 03/31/2022

Marty Allen is a turnaround CEO and angel investor.

Sharon Hagle

• Role: Tourist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 03/31/2022
• Last Flight: 03/31/2022

Sharon Hagle founded SpaceKids Global in 2015, a nonprofit whose mission is to inspire students to excel in STEAM+ education with a focus on empowering young girls. SpaceKids hosts several annual challenges designed to inspire kids to pursue careers in the space industry, including national essay competitions and a partnership with the Girl Scouts of Citrus County.

NS-20

• Type: Tourism
• Orbit: Suborbital

NS-20 is the fourth crewed New Shepard flight, carrying six passengers.

West Texas Suborbital Launch Site/ Corn Ranch

Corn Ranch, Van Horn, TX, USA

West Texas Suborbital Launch Site/ Corn Ranch has witnessed the launch of 24 rockets, including 0 orbital launch attempts, while Corn Ranch, Van Horn, TX, USA, has been the site for 24 rocket launches.

Blue Origin New Shepard

The New Shepard reusable launch system is a vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing (VTVL), suborbital manned rocket that is being developed by Blue Origin as a commercial system for suborbital space tourism.

Core NS-4

Booster NS-4 last launched 12/19/2023 and has seen 9 successful launches and landings. New Shepard vehicle #4 is the fourth flight vehicle of the New Shepard suborbital rocket. It was used for Blue Origin’s first crewed launches.

Corn Ranch Landing Pad, West Texas – CR

New Shepard landing site.

Return to Launch Site – RTLS

A return to launch site usually means that after stage separation the booster flips and does a burn back towards the launch site, landing near where it initially launched from.

Blue Origin

Blue Origin is an American privately funded aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight services company set up by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos with its headquarters in Kent, Washington. The company is developing technologies to enable private human access to space with the goal to dramatically lower costs and increase reliability. Blue Origin currently launches its New Shepard sub-orbital vehicle from its West Texas launch site, they are currently constructing a launch pad for their orbital vehicle New Glenn at Cape Canaveral LC-36.