Watch: Engineer becomes first wheelchair user to go to space

An engineer became the first wheelchair user to travel to space on Saturday, 20 December. Michaela Benthaus, 33, accompanied five other passengers launching from West Texas with Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin. The 10-minute space-skimming flight required only minor adjustments to accommodate Benthaus, according to the company, as the autonomous New Shepard capsule was designed with accessibility in mind. Benthaus is part of the European Space Agency’s graduate trainee program in the Netherlands. Saturday's flight was a private mission with no involvement by ESA. The billionaire Amazon founder created Blue Origin in 2000 and launched its first passenger spaceflight in 2021. In April, Katy Perry blasted off on Blue Origin's New Shepard NS-31.