Blue Origin has shared a cinematic video showcasing its thrilling space tourism ride on the New Shepard rocket.
Titled Reserve your seat on New Shepard, the two-and-a-half-minute video features dramatic clips from some of the eight crewed New Shepard flights that have taken place since the first one in July 2021.
Up till now, seats aboard the capsule have been filled by either the super-wealthy or celebrities who’ve been offered a free ride to publicize the experience (see if you can spot Star Trek legend William Shatner in the video).
The video doesn’t say how much it costs to take a trip on the rocket, but Virgin Galactic, which operates a similar kind of space tourism service, is known to charge a hefty $450,000 per seat.
Blue Origin’s experience involves launching inside a six-seat capsule atop a single-stage, suborbital New Shepard rocket. The speedy ascent takes the passengers to about four miles above the Kármán line, the point 62 miles above Earth that’s widely considered to be where space begins. At peak altitude, the occupants are able to leave their seats to enjoy a few moments of weightlessness while also marveling at the breathtaking views of Earth.
Once safely buckled up again, the capsule returns to Earth in a parachute-assisted landing close to the launch site, with the entire experience lasting about 10 minutes.
While some have criticized the space tourism rides as a pointless endeavor for people with money to burn, Blue Origin’s founder, Jeff Bezos, has previously said that if he and others are able to create and build infrastructure to cut the cost of space travel, then more people will have the chance to go to space to create “amazing things that make life better here on Earth.”
For Bezos and Blue Origin, part of that work also includes building more powerful rockets like the New Glenn, which is set to fly for the first time later this year.
