The owner of Blue Origin and the third richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, is making a big advancement in space travel by preparing to send an all-female crew to the edge of space. This is the first time an all-female crew will travel to space.
Lauren Sanchez, a professional helicopter pilot with an Emmy for media achievement, and also Bezos’ girlfriend, reveals that she’s wanted to fly on earlier missions but Bezos is now encouraging her and thrilled to put together the female crew.
The relationship between Sanchez and Bezos fuelled a wave of stories in 2019. Two years later, Bezos took a ride on Blue Origin’s first crewed spaceflight with Sanchez watching from the wings.
Sánchez isn’t saying who the five women are who will be joining her, something that will be revealed closer to the planned early 2024 flight.
“It’s going to be women who are making a difference in the world and who are impactful and have a message to send,” Sánchez tells The Wall Street Journal. And Bezos won’t be getting an exception to attend her flight. “As much as he wants to go on this flight, I’m going to have to hold him back,” Sánchez said. “He’ll be cheering us all on from the sidelines.”
Before that crew can launch aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket, however, the company must be cleared for launch by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) following a launch anomaly during the rocket’s last research payload mission.
So far, Blue Origin crewed missions have been, for all intents and purposes, recreational flights. Blue Origin has launched four crewed missions to space dating back to July 20th, 2021. The first New Shepard flight carried Bezos himself along with his brother and two others. Later missions put Star Trek actor William Shatner into space, followed by another with former NFL player Michael Strahan and others — including paying customers.
