The next Blue Origin tourism mission is upon us, as the space company maintains a steady monthly pace of private suborbital launches.
NS-33 will be Blue Origin’s 13th crewed launch to date, and the fifth New Shepard launch of 2025. The mission will carry six passengers to the edge of space, where they will experience several minutes of weightlessness before their capsule parachutes back down to terra firma.
The crew includes Allie and Carl Kuehner, Leland Larson, Freddie Rescigno, Jr., Owolabi Salis, and James Sitkin. Here’s a bit of background on each of them.
Allie Kuehner
Kuehner serves on the board of the nonprofit Nature is Nonpartisan, organizing solutions to environmental challenges, according to her Blue Origin bio. “Allie is an avid adventurer and explorer driven by a profound respect for nature and a desire to experience the wild places they work to protect,” Blue Origin wrote in an NS-33 mission description. Kuehner sees exploration as a conduit through which people can develop “thoughtful environmental stewardship.”
Carl Kuehner
Husband to Allie, Carl Kuehner is the chairman of real estate development, investment, and property management firm Building and Land Technology (BLT). BLT focuses on “building communities and ecosystems that promote long-term growth and sustainability,” according to his bio on Blue Origin’s website. A conservationist like his wife, Kuehner believes “responsible development and social stewardship go hand in hand, creating a legacy that balances progress with purpose.”
Leland Larson
Leland Larson is a philanthropist and traveled man of the Earth. Professionally, he is the former CEO of School Bus Services Inc. and Larson Transportation Services, family-owned businesses focused on regional and national public transportation. According to his Blue Origin bio, Larson has worked as a teacher in the U.S. Army, and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1968. Now, he “cherishes spending time with monks in the high mountains of Tibet.”
Freddie Rescigno, Jr.
Freddie Rescigno, Jr. lives in Suwanee, Georgia, where he serves as President and CEO of Commodity Cables, a company in the electrical distribution market. According to Blue Origin, Rescigno is a competitive golfer with an interest in archeology and space.
Owolabi Salis
Owolabi Salis has dedicated his space launch to “victims of discrimination and civil rights violations,” his Blue Origin bio says. Salis is an attorney and author of the book “Equitocracy.”
Jim Sitkin
Jim Sitkin is a retired lawyer from California, where he represented non-unionized employees in different employment class action suits, fighting for employee protections. Sitkin has traveled to seven continents, according to Blue Origin, and has dreamt of flying to space ever since watching the original “Star Trek” TV series.
The NS-33 mission is scheduled to lift off from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas, on Saturday during a window that opens at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT). A livestream of the launch will be available on Space.com beginning 30 minutes before liftoff, as well as on Blue Origin’s website.