Michaela Benthaus, a 33-year-old aerospace engineer at the European Space Agency, is the first person in a wheelchair to fly on the New Origin Spaceship, New Shepard. In 2018, she injured her spinal cord in a mountain biking accident.  

Michaela asked Hans Koenigsmann, a retired executive with SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space company, if she could ever be an astronaut. He helped arrange the 10-minute flight where the rocket goes 65 miles above the earth and the passengers become weightless. He went on the flight with her on Saturday December 20, 2025 

“It was the coolest experience ever, honestly,” Michaela said in a video released by Blue Origin after her flight. 

Other people, including Katy Perry, Gail King and William Shatner, have taken flights with Blue Origin