STORY: Jeff Bezos' aerospace firm Blue Origin marked a historic milestone on Saturday (December 20) after launching the first wheelchair user above the Kármán line - the internationally recognized boundary of space.

German aerospace engineer Michaela Benthaus, an engineer with the European Space Agency, sustained a spinal cord injury after a mountain biking accident in 2018 and has since become an advocate for accessible space travel. She and her fellow passengers Joey Hyde, Hans Koenigsmann, Neal Milch, Adonis Pouroulis, and Jason Stansel blasted off into space aboard a Blue Origin New Shephard rocket at 0916 am EDT/1416GMT.

The crew experienced a few minutes of microgravity before returning to Earth via parachute-assisted landing in the West Texas desert.

"I think you should never give up on your dreams, right? I mean, there's also sometimes just a low probability that it comes true. And I just got very lucky," Benthaus said upon landing.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: WEST TEXAS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 20, 2025) (BLUE ORIGIN - No resales)

1. BLUE ORIGIN ROCKET ON LAUNCH PAD

2. VARIOUS OF ROCKET IN SPACE

3. ROCKET BOOSTER HEADING BACK TO EARTH

4. DUST RISING FROM THE GROUND AS BOOSTER LANDS

5. CAPSULE WITH PARACHUTES DEPLOYED, CARRYING PASSENGERS HEADING BACK TO EARTH

6. RECOVERY CREWS PLACING A MAT OUTSIDE THE CAPSULE FOR WHEELCHAIR ACCESS

7. GERMAN ENGINEER MICHAELA BENTHAUS, FIRST WHEELCHAIR USER TO BE LAUNCHED INTO SPACE, BEING HELPED OUT OF THE CAPSULE BY HER FELLOW PASSENGER HANS KOENIGSMANN (left)

8. BENTHAUS WAVING AS SHE EMERGES FROM THE CAPSULE

9. BENTHAUS BEING HELPED INTO HER WHEELCHAIR, APPLAUSE

10. BENTHAUS WHEELING HERSELF AWAY FROM THE CAPSULE

11. WIDE OF SCENE

12. A WOMAN HUGGING BENTHAUS

13. BENTHAUS BEING INTERVIEWED/ BEING ASKED WHAT SHE WOULD SAY TO PEOPLE THAT HAVE GIVEN UP ON THEIR DREAMS

14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) GERMAN ENGINEER MICHAELA BENTHAUS, FIRST WHEELCHAIR USER TO BE LAUNCHED INTO SPACE, SAYING:

"I think you should never give up on your dreams, right? I mean, there's also sometimes just a low probability that it comes true. And I just got very lucky, and I'm very grateful that Blue and Hans and everyone said yes to this journey."

15. INTERVIEWER HUGGING BENTHAUS

16. WIDE OF SCENE AT RECOVERY SITE