Skip to main content

How to watch Blue Origin launch William Shatner into space

Space tourism company Blue Origin will be launching a short flight to space and back featuring a very special crew member: Actor William Shatner, aka Star Trek’s Captain Kirk. The launch will be streamed on Wednesday, October 13, and you can watch along live at home.

How to watch the launch

New Shepard Mission NS-18 Webcast

The launch is scheduled for 9:30 a.m ET (6:30 a.m PT) on Wednesday, October 13. Blue Origin will be streaming the launch, with coverage beginning at 8:00 a.m. ET (5:00 a.m. PT).

Recommended Videos

To watch the launch live, you can head to Blue Origin’s website or go straight to the Blue Origin YouTube channel.

And if you miss following along with the launch as it happens, then no worries — you can catch up and watch the launch later, as the recorded video will be posted on YouTube.

What to expect from the launch

New Shepard lifts off from Launch Site One in West Texas for the NS-16 mission on July 20, 2021.
New Shepard lifts off from Launch Site One in West Texas for the NS-16 mission on July 20, 2021. Blue Origin / Blue Origin

Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft will be launched from Launch Site One in West Texas in a mission dubbed NS-18. The launch had originally been scheduled for Tuesday, October 12 but was pushed back by one day due to forecasted winds in West Texas.

The crew for the NS-18 mission will include Star Trek actor William Shatner, as well as Blue Origin team member Audrey Powers, Planet Labs’ Dr. Chris Boshuizen, and Medidata co-founder Glen de Vries.

In a chat posted on Twitter this week, Shatner said he’s looking forward to admiring the view from the ship. “I plan to be looking out the window with my nose pressed against the window,” he said, adding in a nod to The Twilight Zone, “The only thing I don’t want to see is a little gremlin looking back at me!”

Thank you @AudreyKPowers and @WilliamShatner for chatting with Team Blue and taking our questions. Catch a glimpse of the conversation and learn what they are planning to do in space: pic.twitter.com/nxmYaNab5K

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) October 8, 2021

This flight follows the July Blue Origin flight which included founder Jeff Bezos. Since then, the company has been dealing with accusations from current and former employees that it fosters a sexist culture and that it prioritizes speed over development over safety — a characterization that company spokespeople have disputed. It has also been engaged in a legal battle with NASA over NASA’s decision to award its lunar lander contrast to the company’s competitor, SpaceX.

These issues aside, many people are excited about the launch and about the inclusion of William Shatner in the crew in particular, thanks to his status as a sci-fi icon.

Georgina Torbet
Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…
SpaceX will launch Tesla’s humanoid Optimus robot to Mars next year
Optimus Gen 2 humanoid robot by Tesla.

The year 2025 is going to be pivotal for Tesla’s humanoid robot plans, if the words of CEO Elon Musk are to be believed. But next year could mark an astronomical milestone for the company’s Optimus robot, in quite the literal sense.
Taking to X, Musk mentioned in a post that SpaceX will put an Optimus robot on Mars atop its flagship Starship rocket by the end of 2026. Just over a week ago, the Starship broke apart following a launch test, the second such failure this year.
“Starship departs for Mars at the end of next year, carrying Optimus,” Musk wrote in a post on X. “If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely.”
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1859078074303713447

This won’t be the first time Musk is making such a claim. Back in November last year, Musk mentioned that SpaceX was capable of sending “several uncrewed Starships” to the red planet within a couple of years and that the payload would include Optimus robots.
Tesla introduced a refined version of the Optimus robot at a glitzy event late in 2024. At the event, Musk told the crowd that Optimus was “the biggest product ever of any kind.” It was later reported that the robots were remotely operated by humans at the event.
Later, during the company’s Q4 2024 earnings calls, Musk shed more light on production plans, adding that the product has a revenue potential higher than $10 trillion. He also mentioned plans to manufacture thousands of humanoid robots in 2025.

Read more
Watch SpaceX launch a relief crew for ‘stuck’ Starliner astronauts
At 7:03 p.m. EDT, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, carrying NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, launched from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, March 14, 2025..

Four astronauts are on their way to the International Space Station (ISS). After several delays, the members of Crew-10 lifted off in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft using a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:03 p.m. ET on Saturday night. The crew includes NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.

“Congratulations to our NASA and SpaceX teams on the 10th crew rotation mission under our commercial crew partnership. This milestone demonstrates NASA’s continued commitment to advancing American leadership in space and driving growth in our national space economy,” said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro. “Through these missions, we are laying the foundation for future exploration, from low Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars. Our international crew will contribute to innovative science research and technology development, delivering benefits to all humanity.”

Read more
NASA reveals new launch plan for SpaceX’s Crew-10 — here’s how to watch
The crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission.

[UPDATE: SpaceX and NASA scrubbed Wednesday's launch attempt due to a technical issue on the ground. The article below has been updated to include details on the new launch target.]

SpaceX and NASA called off the launch of Crew-10 to the space station on Wednesday evening. They're now targeting 7:03 p.m. ET on Friday, March 14, for the launch of Crew-10 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Read on for full details on how to watch a livestream of the event.

Read more