Billionaire Bezos to fly first space passengers by April: Report

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos-owned space company Blue Origin, plans to carry its first passengers on board its New Shepard space vehicle as early as April, according to a report cited.

After years in development, Blue Origin completed the fourteenth test flight of its New Shepard rocket booster and capsule, marking one of the last remaining steps before the company flies it’s first crew to space, the report commented.

According to people familiar with Blue Origin, the flight was the first of two “stable configurations.

They also mentioned that the company plans to launch the second test flight within six weeks, or by late February, and the first crewed flight six weeks after that, or by early April. 

NS-15, which is Blue Origin’s next flight, will also consist of a test of loading and unloading the crew.  

Schedule of New Shepard is rather ambitious, warned one of the people, with the goal of flying every six weeks coming from the company’s top leadership. 

Blue Origin’s previous mission NS-13 flew in October after being delayed due to a power supply issue.

New Shepard was designed to carry people on board past the edge of space reaching the altitude more than 100 kilometres.

According to a company’s spokesperson, the report is not confirmed.