Blue Origin, the space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, is set to make history by sending the first wheelchair-using woman into space. Mikela Benthaus, a spacecraft and mechatronics engineer, will join five other crew members aboard the New Shepard rocket for the upcoming NS-37 suborbital mission. The flight will cross the Kármán line, 62 miles above Earth, marking the internationally recognized boundary of space.
Benthaus, who became paralyzed after a 2018 motorcycle accident, has since been an advocate for inclusive space exploration. Joining her on the mission will be engineer Hans Koenigsmann, entrepreneur Neil Milc, investor Joey Hyde, Adonis Porolis, and space enthusiast Jason Stansell. The crew will experience several minutes of microgravity before returning to Earth during the 10–12 minute flight.
This will be Blue Origin’s 16th human spaceflight and its latest step toward expanding accessibility in commercial space travel. The company has previously flown 86 people past the Kármán line, with 80 of them being first-time space travelers.