However, NASA, with the backing of key congressional leaders, has held an iron grip on having its own heavy-lift launcher and crew capsule to ferry astronauts between Earth and destinations beyond low-Earth orbit. Now, these vehicles —the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft—may be canceled if Congress agrees with Trump's proposed NASA budget.

It was Blue Origin's 12th flight carrying passengers to the edge of space and back since company founder Jeff Bezos flew the first such crewed mission in 2021.

Mark Rocket joined Jaime Alemán, Jesse Williams, Paul Jeris, Gretchen Green and Amy Medina Jorge on board the RSS First Step — Blue Origin's first of two human-rated New Shepard capsules — for a trip above the Kármán Line, the 62-mile-high (100-kilometer) internationally recognized boundary between Earth and space.