US Federal Aviation Administration to Approve Bezos' Spaceflight on the 20th

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] On the 20th (local time), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved the manned spaceflight of Blue Origin, led by Jeff Bezos, Amazon's board chairman, who is heading to space, according to major foreign media reports on the 12th (local time).

According to the reports, the FAA approved the manned spaceflight of the 'New Shepard' spacecraft developed by Blue Origin.

The manned flight of New Shepard is valid until August and is scheduled to take place at the launch site in the western desert area of Texas.

Chairman Bezos is expected to board New Shepard himself, and the flight is said to take place on the 20th (local time), the reports stated.

The FAA confirmed that during Blue Origin's test flights, the launch vehicle's hardware and software operated normally and met regulatory requirements.

Unlike the spaceplane 'Unity,' which was boarded by Chairman Branson, Bezos's New Shepard is a rocket-type spacecraft.

Passengers will ride New Shepard, a rocket-type vehicle equipped with a manned module, fly over 100 km, and then experience about 10 minutes of spaceflight until the manned capsule, separated from the rocket, lands back on Earth.

Compared to Branson's spaceflight time of 14 to 17 minutes, the duration is shorter, but the maximum altitude exceeds 100 km, higher than Unity (about 88 km).

In addition to Chairman Bezos, 82-year-old grandmother Wally Funk is also scheduled to board New Shepard. Funk passed NASA astronaut tests in the early 1960s but was unable to fly in space due to being a woman.

Besides the two, Bezos's younger brother Mark and one unidentified customer who won a space tourism ticket through auction will also participate in this flight.

If Chairman Bezos succeeds in spaceflight following Chairman Branson, it will mark a step closer to the era of private space travel.

Furthermore, with Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, declaring his challenge to orbital flight around Earth, the billionaire space race is expected to continue.

Major foreign media evaluated that proving to the public that space travel is safe is the key to the space tourism market, which is expected to grow to $3 billion (about 3.44 trillion KRW) within the next 10 years.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.