Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin forced to scrap landmark wheelchair mission due to last-minute issue

Blue Origin could have achieved a world first this week with a special tourist space launch, but Jeff Bezos' company had to cancel the event at the last minute due to an issue that was identified.

While most of the world's biggest space agencies focus on getting trained astronauts outside of Earth's orbit, Jeff Bezos' company Blue Origin has taken a different approach that's garnered a lot of attention over the years.

While the Amazon co-founder reveals his plans to move key infrastructure into space in the near future, his company has sent a number of famous faces into the sky in 'tourist' launches.

By far the most notable of these occurred earlier this year as his now-wife Lauren Sánchez, Katy Perry, Gayle King, and a number of other big names boarded the New Shepard rocket for an 11-minute suborbital flight.

This drew significant criticism from environmental activists and some even engaged in wild conspiracies that claimed the whole launch was faked, pointing to absurd evidence including Katy Perry's hair.

However, a similar tourist launch had to be scrapped at the last minute this week, and it would have involved a type of passenger who has never had the chance to head into space before.

As reported by Space, the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket was scheduled to send aerospace engineer Michi Benthaus into space before an 'observation' at the last minute saw the journey scrapped.

This trip would have been significant as it would have made Benthaus the wheelchair user to ever reach space, making it a significant achievement for her and opening the door to space travel for those with similar disabilities.

Everything seemed to be going ahead at the company's West Texas launch site on Thursday, yet the launch countdown had to be put on hold twice before the flight was ultimately postponed.

It initially appeared as if 'upper wind levels' were the cause of the delay, yet issues with 'built-in checks prior to the flight' halted the journey the second time around, eventually leading to the cancellation.

It's unclear when this flight, labelled NS-37 for the 37th liftoff of the Blue Origin rocket, will attempt another take off, but hopefully there won't be too long of a delay for Benthaus to achieve her dreams.

The flight itself will only last for around 10 to 12 minutes in total from takeoff to touchdown, but passengers will be able to see Earth from space for a brief period of time, and even experience the feeling of weighlessness.