The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is preparing to fly an all-female crew to the edge of space by the beginning of next year. Lauren Sanchez, a professional helicopter pilot and Emmy-winning media personality who is Mr Bezos' girlfriend, discussed the ongoing plan with the publication. She declared herself to be "super excited" to lead five other women on the upcoming trip.
The crew members would be "women who are making a difference in the world and who are impactful and have a message to send," Ms Sanchez told the publication, though she did not reveal their names. She added that the creator of Amazon and Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos, would not be accompanying them.
“As much as he wants to go on this flight, I'm going to have to hold him back, he'll be cheering us all on from the sidelines," she said. "I've wanted to be in the rocket from the jump, so [Bezos] is excited to make this happen with all of these women,” Ms Sanchez added, NDTV reported.
Although the launch date is currently unknown, Ms Sanchez stated that she hopes to fly by the beginning of next year. The Independent reports that Ms Sanchez will lead the all-female crew of the Blue Origin New Shepard suborbital vehicle, which has so far carried out six successful crewed suborbital missions.
Mr Bezos travelled to the edge of space on one of the first Blue Origin missions together with three other passengers, including his brother Mark and aviation pioneer Wally Funk. Four people, including American football player Michael Strahan and Star Trek actor William Shatner, were lofted to the final frontier on another New Shepard crewed mission. In addition to expeditions to the edge of space, Mr Bezos' business has participated in a few NASA missions taking up scientific equipment.
However, given that one of its most recent uncrewed missions in September turned into a fireball in midflight, Blue Origin may now have to wait for the US Federal Aviation Administration to give the space business the all-clear for upcoming New Shepard missions. A minute and four seconds into the flight, the space shuttle started to burn. A few minutes later, flight abort rockets helped it safely jettison back to Earth by separating the capsules.
The aviation authorities will assess whether any systems, processes, or procedures connected to the accident had an impact on public safety before the replacement Shepard vehicle was allowed to resume flying, according to a statement made by the FAA at the time. Since the accident, New Shepard hasn't taken to the skies with or without a crew.