During the Amazon Web Services Public Summit in Washington last Tuesday, Blue Origin’s Senior Vice President Rob Meyerson said that the firm plans to sell suborbital flight tickets in 2019 and will launch the test trips soon. He was the keynote speaker in a half-day event on earth and space applications. Meyerson said, “We plan to start flying our first test passengers soon. We expect to start selling tickets in 2019.”
Very few details have been shared about the cost or time frame of the New Shepard flights. The company is determined to stick to their goal to make suborbital journeys a reality. The company’s website is also dedicated to the New Shepard and caters to potential space travelers. The site states, “Sitting atop a 60-foot-tall rocket in a capsule designed for six people, you’ll feel the engine ignite and rumble under you as you climb through the atmosphere. Accelerating at more than 3 Gs to faster than Mach 3, you will count yourself as one of the few who has gone these speeds and crossed into space.”
The section also talks about passenger-targeted features like large windows which provide “unparalleled views” and allow the passengers to experience the “freedom of weightlessness”. The customer’s journey will also be documented step by step which reassures passengers that high-definition videos, pictures, and mementos will be provided to keep as memories. The site states, “You’ll also belong to an exclusive Blue Origin alumni network – a community of modern space pioneers. Make history with a suborbital flight, and you will receive early access to purchase tickets for our future orbital missions.”
The space goers who are very eager to make plans should not rush since the Blue Origin has flown its New Shepard vehicle only eight times. The first launch was done in April 2015. It faced hydraulics problems which interfered with the powered landing of the vehicle. The company also insisted that it will wait for the right time and conditions to launch the suborbital journeys. Bob Smith, chief executive of Blue Origin said in an interview, “We continue to be head down on making sure the configuration is good and stable and ready to fly.”
Meyerson said at a summit, “We believe that setting up colonies on the moon is the next logical step towards exploring Mars and beyond.” The firm is also hiring technologists to work on the company’s long-term outer space-focused goals. He said, “Our vision is millions of people living and working in space, and we accept there are many ways to get there. The task of defining the path forward is what we’re doing now.”
