On its eighth flight on April 29, Blue Origin's New Shepard crew capsule reached the targeted height of 351,000 feet (66 miles). Mission 8 (M8), as it was referred to, used the same vehicle flown in Mission 7.

Similar to advanced rockets from SpaceX, the New Shepard system is a fully reusable vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) space vehicle. A pressurized capsule at the top of the booster rockets separates once in space and then parachutes safely back to Earth. After free-falling for a few minutes, the booster rocket performs a controlled rocket-powered vertical landing. Both the rocket and the capsule can be reused.

Test dummy "Mannequin Skywalker" accompanied the spacecraft on Mission 8, as it did on Mission 7 and performed telemetry and science studies.

In addition to the studies conducted, the flight also contained research payloads from several customers, including NASA, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and commercial customers. See the news release on the Blue Origin website for a complete list of customers and payload descriptions.