Blue Origin, the private space company owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, announced Wednesday that it plans to launch its first flight with passengers on board this summer from West Texas.
The flight is set to blast off on July 20 from the company鈥檚 sprawling launch facility north of Van Horn, Texas.
The announcement is a notable milestone in Blue Origin鈥檚 long-held plan to give tourists a glimpse of the cosmos through routine flights aboard the company鈥檚 reusable rocket, dubbed 鈥淣ew Shepard.鈥�
The company has been conducting from its Culberson County site for years, most recently with an test flight in April, which involved Blue Origin employees carrying out various operational tests on the ground but not actually taking off aboard the rocket.
鈥淎stronauts鈥� is how the company refers to its potential customers, who would pay for a roughly 10-minute flight into space from the West Texas launch site.
Blue Origin also announced it will one seat on the inaugural flight to benefit the company鈥檚 foundation, which encourages kids to pursue science and technology careers.
鈥淲e will have other people as part of the crew,鈥� Ariane Cornell, the company鈥檚 director of astronaut sales, told reporters during a virtual briefing. 鈥淭his is the only seat that is open for purchase, which is, again, the very first seat that鈥檚 open to the public.鈥�
New Shepard鈥檚 crew capsule is designed to hold up to six people and features a series of wide windows that will offer space tourists what the company has described as 鈥渓ife-changing views of Earth.鈥�
Blue Origin has so far declined to provide an estimate for how much future trips to space will cost, but Cornell suggested the company would look to the results of the first auction for guidance.
鈥淲e will see what the first ticket goes for via the auction,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have details on the prices for future seats.鈥�
People hoping to grab a seat on New Shepard, whether through the first auction or future flights, will have to pass certain health and security and go through a series of training exercises.
The auction for a seat on the July 20 flight opened Wednesday with private online bidding and will continue through May 19. The auction will open up to the public later in May and on June 12, the company will conclude bidding with a live auction.
During Wednesday鈥檚 press briefing, Cornell said Blue Origin would release more details closer to the July flight about how West Texans can watch the launch.
鈥淚 have to commend and thank the local Van Horn community,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think of Van Horn as home away from home, so a big shout out to them.鈥�
Blue Origin鈥檚 work in West Texas has not been entirely without controversy. During the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, some of the company鈥檚 own employees about the company in order to continue traveling back and forth from the Van Horn area to major cities for a planned test launch. The company ultimately decided to delay that launch until September,