A brief moment captured after Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket landed back on Earth has ignited a storm of conspiracy theories online. In a video that quickly went viral, viewers noticed the space capsule door appearing to be opened from the inside, minutes before Amazon founder and Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos could be seen pulling it open for the cameras.
The footage was part of the highly publicized spaceflight featuring an all-female crew, including pop star Katy Perry, TV host Gayle King, and Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sanchez. The rocket launched from West Texas on Monday at 9:31 a.m. local time and returned to Earth just 11 minutes later.
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Claims of a ‘staged’ mission spread online
Some social media users questioned the legitimacy of the mission, suggesting that the sequence of events—specifically how the door opened—violated Blue Origin’s own safety protocols.
“I’d say this is the nail in the coffin. FAKE! Capsule’s hatch is designed to be opened from the outside by the recovery team after landing, as a safety measure to ensure controlled and secure egress,” one user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote.
Another added, “It was fake. The girls open the door to begin with from the inside themselves with nothing, no tools. The lady stepped up to the door and they closed the door. Then they waited a few minutes, and Jeff Bezos stepped up with some sort of tool and acted like he unlocked the latch.”
Blue Origin has yet to respond
So far, Blue Origin has not issued an official statement addressing the viral clip or the accusations of staging. The aerospace company typically maintains strict safety procedures, including having recovery crews assist passengers in exiting the pressurized capsule post-landing.
The video, however, appears to show the passengers already opening the hatch before Bezos arrives, prompting critics to claim the moment was choreographed for media optics.
Historic flight overshadowed by speculation
The spaceflight was a landmark event for Blue Origin, marking the first all-women crewed mission in over six decades. The team briefly crossed the Karman Line—the internationally recognized boundary of space—before descending safely.
Images released after the flight showed the six-member crew experiencing microgravity, with Lauren Sanchez visibly smiling as she floated inside the capsule.
Despite the historic nature of the flight, the door-opening moment has eclipsed much of the celebration.
Even the rocket’s condition is being questioned
Fueling further skepticism, some conspiracy theorists have claimed that the rocket appeared “too clean” upon landing. They argue that a genuine return from space would leave the capsule visibly weathered or scorched.
While experts have previously explained that suborbital flights like New Shepard’s typically generate less exterior damage compared to orbital missions, this has not stopped the speculation.
As the internet continues to dissect every frame of the landing footage, the debate underscores the growing public demand for transparency in high-profile private space missions, especially those involving billionaire figures and celebrity passengers.
