Blue Origin to begin space tourism ticket sales Wednesday
Send a link to a friend
[May 05, 2021]
By Eric M. Johnson
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Blue Origin,
billionaire Jeff Bezos' rocket company, is poised to open up ticket
sales on Wednesday for suborbital sightseeing trips on its New Shepard
spacecraft, a landmark moment as U.S. firms strive toward a new era of
private commercial space travel.
Blue Origin is expected to announce details on how to purchase a seat,
the timing of the first flight, and the cost for a ticket, which has
been a carefully guarded secret inside Blue for years.
Reuters reported in 2018 that Blue was planning to charge passengers at
least $200,000 for the ride, based on an appraisal of rival plans from
billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc and other
considerations, though its thinking may have changed.
Blue Origin teased last week that it would soon begin selling tickets,
following years of testing and development work that has included
delays.
Blue's New Shepard rocket-and-capsule combo is designed to autonomously
fly six passengers more than 62 miles (100 km) above Earth into
suborbital space, high enough to experience a few minutes of
weightlessness and see the curvature of the planet before the
pressurized capsule returns to earth under parachutes.
The capsule features six observation windows Blue Origin says are nearly
three times as tall as those on a Boeing Co 747 jetliner.
While celebrities and the uber-rich appear to be a core market for space
tourist jaunts, at least initially, industry sources expect Blue to
include some philanthropic component to its ticket strategy.
A college science professor and an aerospace data analyst are among a
four-member crew for a launch into orbit planned later this year by Elon
Musk's SpaceX, part of a charity drive billed as the first all-civilian
spaceflight in history.
[to top of second column]
|
Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos addresses the media about
the New Shepard rocket booster and Crew Capsule mockup at the 33rd
Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States April
5, 2017. REUTERS/Isaiah J. Downing/File Photo
Virgin Galactic also aims to fly private customers in
early 2022, after a first flight with Branson on board later this
year.
Its zero-gravity experience is anchored by its SpaceShipTwo plane,
and the company has ambitious plans to offer point-to-point travel
between far-flung cities at near-space altitudes.
Virgin says it will charge more than $250,000 for new reservations
but has not announced final pricing. Sales will reopen following
Branson's flight.
In 2018, one Blue Origin employee with first-hand knowledge of the
pricing plan said the company will start selling tickets in the
range of about $200,000 to $300,000. A second employee said tickets
would cost a minimum of $200,000.
Blue Origin's announcement will provide Bezos, who founded
Amazon.com Inc, sorely needed momentum after Blue Origin lost out to
SpaceX on a $2.9 billion contract under NASA's high-profile program
to return Americans to the moon in coming years.
However, NASA has told SpaceX to halt development work specifically
related to the moon program contract pending the outcome of protests
by Blue and rival Dynetics at the U.S. Government Accountability
Office.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle, Editing by Rosalba
O'Brien)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|