Texas

What does it take to fly on Blue Origin? An application and (maybe) a rocket load of money

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket launches carrying passengers Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and space tourism company Blue Origin, brother Mark Bezos, Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk, from its spaceport near Van Horn, in July 2021.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket launches carrying passengers Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and space tourism company Blue Origin, brother Mark Bezos, Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk, from its spaceport near Van Horn, in July 2021. AP

READ MORE


One town, two frontiers

Van Horn, Texas, is so much more than a playground for billionaires with space rockets.


A flight to space with Blue Origin is as simple as filling out an application online, paying potentially tens of millions of dollars for the 11 minutes you’ll spend in the stars and a trip the the small far West Texas town of Van Horn.

Like many other things, Blue Origin is fairly tight lipped about what a seat on its rockets cost. Oliver Daemon, the 18-year-old son of a European millionaire, had a ticket bought by his father for $28 million for the first manned Blue Origin flight in July 2021.

For your part, Blue Origin has a form on its website where it asks space-faring hopefuls to share contact information, date of birth, a bio with less than 500 characters, what excites them the most about Blue Origin space flights and what adventures they’ve had in the past.

It’ll also ask you what year you want to fly and how many tickets you want to buy. The exact price per ticket, though, is as unknown to those outside the company as what a black hole looks like up close.

James Hartley
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
James Hartley was a news reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram from 2019 to 2024
Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER

One town, two frontiers

Van Horn, Texas, is so much more than a playground for billionaires with space rockets.