German engineer Michaela Benthaus has scripted history by becoming the first wheelchair user and the first person with paraplegia to travel to space, marking a major milestone for inclusivity in human spaceflight. Benthaus flew aboard a suborbital mission operated by Jeff Bezos’ space tourism company Blue Origin. The flight was the company’s 16th crewed mission and launched from Blue Origin’s West Texas facility aboard the New Shepard rocket.
The fully automated rocket lifted off vertically before the crew capsule separated mid-flight, briefly crossing the internationally recognised boundary of space, the Karman line, roughly 100 kilometres above Earth. The capsule later descended safely back to the Texas desert under parachutes, with the entire journey lating about 10 minutes.
From Life-Changing Accident To Spaceflight
Benthaus, a German aerospace and mechatronics engineer, suffered a spinal cord injury in a mountain biking accident seven years ago and has since used a wheelchair. After the accident, she questioned whether her childhood dream of becoming an astronaut was still possible.
Determined to find an answer, she reached out online to a retired space engineer, who later helped facilitate her participation in the historic Blue Origin mission.
Career At European Space Agency
The 33-year-old is currently part of the European Space Agency’s graduate trainee programme in the Netherlands. She had previously experienced short periods of weightlessness during a parabolic aircraft flight out of Houston in 2022, giving her early exposure to microgravity before Saturday’s suborbital journey.
In a video released by Blue Origin, Benthaus spoke about the broader meaning of her flight. “After my accident, I really, really figured out how inaccessible our world still is for people with disabilities,” she said.
“If we want to be an inclusive society, we should be inclusive in every part, and not only in the parts we like to be,” she added.
Blue Origin And Space Tourism Race
Benthaus was one of six passengers aboard the flight. Blue Origin has previously flown dozens of people into space, including pop singer Katy Perry and actor William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in Star Trek.
While Virgin Galactic offers similar suborbital experiences, Blue Origin has broader ambitions. This year, the company successfully carried out two uncrewed orbital test flights of its powerful New Glenn rocket, signalling its intent to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.