Gary Lai

Career

Gary Lai began his professional journey at Kistler Aerospace in Kirkland, Washington, where he served as a payload systems engineer on the K-1 launch vehicle, a project aimed at building a fully reusable two-stage rocket for launching payloads into orbit from Australia. He is listed as a co-inventor on two Kistler patents related to payload systems. In 2004, Lai became one of the first 20 employees at Blue Origin. Over his tenure, he held multiple roles including Senior Director of Design Engineering, System Architect, Crew Capsule Element Lead, NASA Commercial Crew Development Program Manager, Lead Systems Engineer, and Pathfinding Lead, where he oversaw advanced research and development.

Beyond New Shepard, Lai contributed to product development, strategic planning, and business development for other Blue Origin projects such as the New Glenn orbital rocket, various rocket engine programs, and the Blue Moon lunar lander. On April 14, 2021, Lai took part in NS-15, the 15th test flight of New Shepard, which was a rehearsal for human spaceflight. Along with fellow employee Audrey Powers, he entered the capsule after the booster was fueled, strapped into the seats, and exited a few minutes later before the vehicle launched.

NS-15 served as the final rehearsal before NS-16, the first human spaceflight carrying Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, Wally Funk, and Oliver Daemen to suborbital space. Prior to NS-16, Lai acted as a company spokesperson on New Shepard’s safety systems, giving interviews to Bloomberg Technology, CNN, and the Washington Post. He also co-hosted Blue Origin’s live webcast of NS-16 with Ariane Cornell. Lai himself flew on New Shepard during the NS-20 mission on March 31, 2022.

The seat was originally intended for comedian Pete Davidson, but Blue Origin announced Davidson would not fly and named Lai as his replacement. Unlike the other passengers, Lai did not pay for the flight. Before NS-20, Blue Origin released a video highlighting his contributions to New Shepard and his thoughts on the upcoming trip, calling him “the architect of New Shepard.”

Did You Know?

• Gary Lai was born in Hong Kong in 1973 and grew up in the New York City metro area.
• He credited a class he took at Cornell with the late astronomer Carl Sagan in his senior year as steering him towards a career in engineering and space exploration.
• He received a Stellar award from the RNASA Foundation in 2017 for outstanding leadership of the New Shepard technical team, which performed five launches and landings of the same booster in one year.
• Lai revealed he co-founded Interlune during a ceremony at the Museum of Flight in 2023, with co-founders including Rob Meyerson and Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt.