Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin targets July launch for first space tourism flight
- One seat on the New Shepard spacecraft will go to the winning bidder of a five-week online origin
- Blue Origin is protesting a US$2.9 billion contract that Nasa awarded to rival SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk
Blue Origin, billionaire Jeff Bezos’ rocket company, said on Wednesday it is targeting July 20 for its first suborbital sightseeing trip on its New Shepard spacecraft, a landmark moment in a competition to usher in a new era of private commercial space travel.
Blue Origin also said it will offer one seat on the first flight to the winning bidder of a five-week online auction, the proceeds of which will be donated to the space firm’s foundation.
Blue Origin’s Director of Astronaut Sales, Ariane Cornell, declined to disclose details on the general ticket prices the company will charge for future trips, which has been a closely guarded secret inside the company for years.
Reuters reported in 2018 that Blue Origin was planning to charge passengers at least US$200,000 for the ride, based on an appraisal of rival plans from billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic Holdings and other considerations, though its thinking may have changed.
Wednesday’s announcement follows years of testing and development work that has included delays. After its first flight in July, Cornell said Blue would have “a couple more” crewed flights before the end of the year.
The New Shepard rocket-and-capsule combo is designed to autonomously fly six passengers more than 62 miles (100km) above Earth into suborbital space, high enough to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of the planet before the pressurised capsule returns to earth under parachutes.