Space tourism has been a sci-fi industry on the verge of becoming reality for several years now, but it looks like you’ll finally be able to purchase your first ticket to outer space next year.
Blue Origin, the private aerospace company founded by the world’s richest man and Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, has announced that they plan to start selling tickets to the public for suborbital space flights starting next year. According to the announcement made by Blue Origin Senior Vice President Rob Meyerson and reported by SpaceNews, the company plans on beginning passenger test flights of their new reusable New Shepherd launch system “soon.”
The plan is for the passengers to board a spacious capsule atop a BE-3 powered rocket, which will blast them 60 miles into the sky. Once the capsule exits Earth’s atmosphere, it will separate from the rocket and the passengers will be able to experience weightlessness. The rocket will then descend back to Earth for a booster-assisted landing so it can be used on future missions, while the capsule will deploy a parachute and float back down to the ground.
The company hasn’t said how much tickets for the flights will cost, but they’re not expected to be anything resembling affordable — Gizmodo estimates they’ll cost between $50,000 and $250,000. Think there’ll be a discount for Amazon Prime members?
