Blue Origin to Fly First Wheelchair User to Space on NS-37 Mission

Blue Origin announced on Dec. 3, 2025, that its next historic suborbital tourist mission, NS-37, will carry six people, including Michi Benthaus, an aerospace engineer at the European Space Agency and a wheelchair user. Benthaus will become the first person in a wheelchair to fly to the final frontier. She will join former SpaceX engineer Hans Koenigsmann and four other crew members. The mission marks a milestone for inclusive space tourism.

NS-37 Crew

According to the Blue Origin announcement on Dec. 3, 2025, about the crew for NS-37, a forthcoming suborbital spaceflight, the six-person roster includes ESA engineer Michi Benthaus and five others: Joey Hyde, Hans Koenigsmann, Neal Milch, Adonis Pouroulis, and Jason Stansell.

Hyde is a retired investor with a PhD in astrophysics, and Koenigsmann is a German-American aerospace engineer who spent two decades at SpaceX. Blue Origin says it has now flown 86 people (80 individuals) above the internationally recognised 100-kilometer boundary of space, making its New Shepard program a veteran space-tourism venture.

Broader Implications

The NS-37 mission demonstrates a trend in space travel that is becoming more inclusive. Nonprofits like AstroAccess advocate disability inclusion, noting that “if we can make space accessible, we can make any space accessible”. Space agencies are also preparing disabled astronauts: John McFall, a British physician and Paralympian amputee, may be the first person with a disability in space after being cleared for a potential ISS mission.

These advancements imply that a broader spectrum of people may be able to access commercial space travel.