Blue Origin will launch an all-female crew to suborbital space next year. The mission will be led by Spanish model Laura Sánchez, the girlfriend of Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin's founder, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Speaking to WSJ, Sánchez revealed that she plans to lead the six-member spaceflight aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard launch vehicle.
She also said that the crewmembers will be women who are making a difference in the world and who are impactful and have a message to send, a space.com report stated, citing the WSJ report.
Sánchez, 53, is a media personality and a trained helicopter pilot. She said she hopes to fly on the mission early next year.
Sánchez added that Bezos will not be joining the crew. In July, 2021, he launched on a spaceflight of his own. This was Blue Origin's first crewed mission.
Bezos flew with three other people, including his brother Mark Bezos, and American aviator Wally Funk.
In October, 2021, Blue Origin launched its second crewed flight, carrying actor William Shatner, famous for playing the role of Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek series, to space. Shatner became the oldest man to travel to space after the successful completion of the mission.
Blue Origin has launched six crewed flights till date. However, all the missions were suborbital.
In September, 2022, an uncrewed Blue Origin New Shepard spacecraft, called RSS H.G. Wells, exploded due to an unplanned separation from the rocket booster. As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded all future Blue Origin launches until the investigation of the aerospace firm and its spacecraft is completed.
However, the escape system of RSS H.G. Wells worked as designed, rocketing the capsule away from danger. The escape system landed safely under parachutes.
New Shepard flights last about 11 minutes, from liftoff to touchdown of the capsule, with passengers experiencing a few minutes of weightlessness.