Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos discussed PEP prior to the launch of the company’s first all-female crew.
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, will see his company Blue Origin launch a New Shepard Rocket with a crew of six women late Monday morning.
This flight represents Blue Origin’s 11th mission with human passengers on board.
Key information about launches
A general view of the Blue Origin site explodes on March 31, 2022, during the fourth suborbital tourist flight of Jeff Bezos’ company with six crew members near Van Horn, Texas. (Reuters/Ivan Pierre Aguirre)
The aerospace firm plans to launch the New Shepard Rocket at 9:30 am ET.
The Blue Shepard Rocket, launched from Blue Origin’s site One in Texas, is described on its website as “a completely reusable suborbital rocket system.”
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During the flight, the six astronauts will cross the Kármán line in capsules, enjoying a brief experience of zero gravity before returning to Earth. The Kármán line, situated 62 miles above Earth, delineates the border of outer space.
The total duration of the flight is anticipated to be around 11 minutes.
Blue Origin will provide live streaming of the mission, expected to commence at 8 am.
All-women crew
The crew for Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission consists of six women: Stemboard CEO Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics research scientist Amanda Nguyen, “CBS Morning” co-host Gail King, musician Katy Perry, film producer Kerian Flynn, and Lauren Sanchez, vice-chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, who is also Bezos’ fiancée.
The beginnings of Bezos and Blue Origin
Jeff Bezos (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Bezos established Blue Origin around 25 years ago.
The company has completed 10 human flights aboard New Shepard since 2021, with the latest occurring in late February. Blue Origin reports that the Blue Shepard program has conducted a total of 30 flights.
Additionally, Blue Origin is in the process of developing a new two-stage Glenn Rocket, with its inaugural launch set for mid-January.
The company characterizes this rocket as “essential for efforts to create a sustainable human presence on the moon, harness resources in space, offer multi-mission capabilities via the blue ring, facilitate multi-orbital movement, and establish destinations in low Earth orbit.”
A press release indicated that Blue Origin secured a nearly $2.4 billion National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 2 contract in April, involving seven missions, along with two previous “National Security Launch-related” contracts.
Nasa also selected the company to design a lunar lander in 2023.
Blue Origin lays off around 10% of its workforce
The company continues to pursue its month-earned development contract under NASA’s Artemis v Mission NextStep-2 Appendix P. This $3.4 billion agreement encompasses design, development, testing, and two demonstration missions with Washington-based Blue Moonlander, as reported in a NASA press release at the time.
Blue Origin is in competition with SpaceX, which is led by billionaire Elon Musk in the space industry.
Blue Origin’s inaugural human flight
The initial human flight of Blue Origin occurred in July 2021, featuring Bezos alongside his brother Mark Bezos, aviator Wally Funk, and 18-year-old Oliver Damen.
Blue Origin’s founder Jeff Bezos and three passengers will address the historic launch aboard a New Shepherd.
“Words can’t express how perfect the mission was,” Bezos said. He shared with MSNBC following the flight. “I lack the talent to articulate it. The G-force felt intense, your skin gets pushed back as you settle into your seat, and suddenly, you find yourself in zero-G, just floating.”
