Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin prepares for next human flight: Where to watch launch in Texas

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Six more space tourists are preparing to join the growing ranks of civilians who have flown on a Blue Origin rocket to the edge of space.
The vehicle they'll ride to orbit, Blue Origin's New Shepard, is the same one that 58 others have ridden to space on 11 previous human spaceflights from the company's west Texas facility. The New Shepard's maiden voyage in July 2021 with a crew even included billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who also owns the space technology company.
New Shepard is composed of both a rocket and a crew capsule, which is outfitted with large windows for its passengers to glimpse spectacular views that most of us will never see.
The rest of us will instead have to content ourselves with watching the mission on solid ground. Fortunately, a town just south of the launch site may provide a few public places to catch the launch and spaceflight.
Here's everything to know about Blue Origin's next human spaceflight and how to potentially see it in person.
When is the next Blue Origin launch? What to know about New Shepard liftoff, crew
Billionaire Jeff Bezos, best known for founding Amazon, is the founder of the private space technology company Blue Origin.
Bezos himself even boarded Blue Origin's New Shepard for its maiden crewed voyage in July 2021, which came after the spacecraft flew on 15 flight tests beginning in 2012. For nearly four years since its first crewed mission, the New Shepard spacecraft has served as a powerful symbol of Blue Origin's commercial spaceflight ambitions amid a growing space tourism industry.
In addition to sending space tourists on brief joy rides to the edge of space, Blue Origin has also increasingly sought to compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Blue Origin's massive New Glenn rocket, which flew on its inaugural flight test in January, is also being developed for future spaceflights. At 320 feet tall, the spacecraft rivals SpaceX's 400-foot Starship in size.
Blue Origin's next crewed launch, known as NS-32, could get off the ground as early as 8:30 a.m. CT (9:30 a.m. ET) Saturday, May 31, the company announced announced Tuesday, May 27.
Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launches take place from the company's private ranch facility known as Launch Site One. The facility is located 30 miles north of the town of Van Horn in Culberson County – more than 140 miles east of El Paso near the U.S.-Mexico border.
Blue Origin does not provide any public viewing areas for launches at or near its facility, which is located in a remote desert.
Van Horn, the nearest town, is too far away to see the launch pad itself, but is likely the best place to see a New Shepard rocket soar into the sky. The town's visitors bureau advertises Blue Origin on its homepage and its brochure as an attraction, but does not list any public viewing locations for launches.
The USA TODAY Network left a message Thursday, May 29 with the visitor's bureau seeking more information.
In the meantime, here is a list of public places in and around Van Horn listed as attractions on the visitors' bureau website where spectators might be able to see a rocket taking off:
Van Horn city park, 3rd and Austin Streets
Okey D. Lucas Memorial Park, 1804 W. Broadway St., Van Horn
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, located about 60 miles north of Van Horn in Dell City and 40 miles north of the launch site, the park bordering New Mexico has the highest point in Texas.
Here's a look at the passengers on the next Blue Origin spaceflight:
Aymette (Amy) Medina Jorge, a STEM teacher at Odyssey Academy in Galveston, Texas, who has led more than 60 zero-gravity space experiments.
Gretchen Green, a radiologist specializing in women's imaging with more than 20 years of clinical experience.
Jaime Alemán, a Panamanian attorney, businessman and former ambassador to the United States.
Jesse Williams, a Canadian entrepreneur and adventurer who serves as CEO of Car History Group, which he founded in 2012.
Mark Rocket, an entrepreneur from Christchurch, New Zealand, who is CEO of Kea Aerospace, which develops solar-powered UAVs for aerial imaging and monitoring, and president of Aerospace New Zealand.
Paul Jeris, a real estate developer and entrepreneur
Each spaceflight on a New Shepard vehicle lasts about 11 minutes from liftoff to capsule touchdown.
Named after astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space, the 60-foot-tall New Shepard rocket is topped with the gum drop-shaped crew capsule.
During its ascent, the spacecraft reaches supersonic speeds surpassing 2,000 mph before the rocket booster separates from the crew capsule. At that point, those aboard the capsule become weightless as the spacecraft continues toward its highest point on its brief voyage above the Kármán Line – the 62-mile-high internationally recognized boundary of space.
While experiencing a few minutes of microgravity, passengers have the opportunity to unstrap themselves from their seats to gaze out the capsule's large windows and take in a stunning view of Earth.
Meanwhile, the rocket booster heads back to the ground while firing its engines and using its fins to slow and control its descent to land vertical about two miles from the launchpad.
The capsule itself eventually begins what Blue Origin refers to as a "stable freefall' – plummeting back to Earth as three massive parachutes deploy and the capsule makes a soft landing in the desert, sending up plumes of dust.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [e-mail]
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Is there a Blue Origin launch today? Where to see liftoff from Texas