Blue Origin NS-18

Designation	none
Launch date - time	13 October 2021 - 14:49 UTC
Launch site	Corn Ranch, LS-1
Launch vehicle	New Shepard
Booster	NS-4
Spacecraft	RSS First Step
Manufacturer / Operator	Blue Origin
Mass (kg)	12519 kg??
Total cargo mass (kg)	kg
Earth flight:
Apogee	107 km
Landing date - time	13 October 2021 - 14:59 UTC
Landing location	Corn Ranch
Recovered by
Mission type	Sub-orbital human spaceflight, Apogee: 107 km
Flight Duration (d:hr:min)	10 min, 17 sec
Landing crew	launch crew

Blue Origin NS-18 was a sub-orbital spaceflight mission operated by Blue Origin that launched on 13 October 2021. The mission was the eighteenth flight of the company's New Shepard integrated launch vehicle and spacecraft. It was the second New Shepard launch to carry passengers. The flight, carrying four people including actor William Shatner, launched from Blue Origin's sub-orbital launch site in West Texas aboard the fourth flight of New Shepard booster NS4 and the spacecraft RSS First Step, both having previously flown on NS-14, NS-15, and NS-16 earlier in the year.
At 90, Shatner became the oldest person to fly into space, surpassing the record of 82 which had been held by Wally Funk for three months since her flight on Blue Origin NS-16. Per Blue Origin, Shatner was a guest of the company on the flight and did not have to pay for the trip. When Ed Dwight flew as a space tourist on the Blue Origin suborbital flight on 19 May 2024 at age 90 years, 253 days, he became the oldest person to reach space, overtaking Shatner.
Passengers:
The four passengers aboard included Blue Origin's vice president of mission and flight operations Audrey Powers, former NASA engineer and third Australian-born person in space Chris Boshuizen, vice chair for life sciences and healthcare at the French software company Dassault Systèmes Glen de Vries, and Canadian actor William Shatner.

Ref.: #98 - update: 18.12.2025