Paraplegic German engineer becomes first wheelchair user in space

A German engineer who was left paraplegic by a cycling accident has become the first wheelchair user to travel to space, marking a milestone for accessibility in commercial spaceflight.

Michaela Benthaus, 33, blasted off Saturday aboard a Blue Origin rocket from West Texas, leaving her wheelchair behind as she floated weightless and viewed Earth from space. She flew with five other passengers on the company’s New Shepard capsule, which rose more than 65 miles, or 105 kilometers, above the planet on a brief suborbital mission.

Benthaus, who was severely injured in a mountain bike accident seven years ago, said she laughed throughout the ascent and even attempted to turn upside down once in space.

“It was the coolest experience,” she said shortly after landing.

Blue Origin said only minor adjustments were needed to accommodate Benthaus, noting that the autonomous capsule was designed with accessibility in mind. Jake Mills, a Blue Origin engineer who trained the crew and assisted on launch day, said the spacecraft was built to be accessible to a wider range of people than traditional spaceflight.

The company has previously flown space tourists with limited mobility, as well as passengers with impaired sight or hearing, including two individuals in their 90s.

For Benthaus’ flight, Blue Origin added a patient transfer board to help her move between the capsule’s hatch and her seat. After touchdown, the recovery team unrolled a carpet on the desert floor to provide immediate access to her wheelchair. An elevator at the launch pad already allowed passengers to reach the capsule, positioned seven stories above the ground.

Benthaus is part of the European Space Agency’s graduate trainee program based in the Netherlands. Before this mission, she experienced brief weightlessness during a parabolic flight in Houston in 2022 and later joined a two-week simulated space mission in Poland.

“I never really thought that going on a spaceflight would be a real option for me,” she told The Associated Press ahead of the launch, adding that spaceflight is highly competitive even for those without disabilities.

She said her accident appeared to end any remaining hope. “There is like no history of people with disabilities flying to space,” she said.

That changed when Hans Koenigsmann, a retired SpaceX executive also born in Germany, approached her last year about the possibility of flying with Blue Origin. Koenigsmann helped organize and sponsor her trip and was designated as her emergency helper for the flight. Ticket prices were not disclosed.

Koenigsmann and Mills assisted Benthaus out of the capsule after landing. Unlike some other astronauts with disabilities, Benthaus cannot walk at all due to her spinal cord injury.

The mission was a private flight and did not involve the European Space Agency, which earlier this year cleared reserve astronaut John McFall, an amputee and former British Paralympian, for a future mission to the International Space Station.

Following touchdown, Benthaus urged others not to abandon their ambitions. “You should never give up on your dreams,” she said.

She added that her goal extends beyond space travel, saying she hopes her experience will help improve accessibility on Earth as well.

“I really hope it’s opening up for people like me,” she said. “I hope I’m only the start.”

Benthaus shared the flight with business executives, investors, and a computer scientist, bringing Blue Origin’s total number of space travelers to 86.

Blue Origin was founded in 2000 by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who flew on the company’s first passenger mission in 2021. The company is also developing larger rockets and lunar landers as it expands its spaceflight ambitions.