Blue Origin Space Tickets Go on Sale Next Year (But How Much?)

When we talk about private space flight and the future of space tourism, we usually end up talking about Elon Musk and SpaceX. That’s not the case today. There’s another ambitious billionaire looking up to the stars and this guy is worth an estimated $144 billion, making him the wealthiest person in the world. Maybe you know him. His name is Jeff Bezos. And his humble little Blue Origin startup is going to selling tickets next year for commercial space flight.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YJhymiZjqc]

All kidding aside, most of us know that it has been something of an arms race between Blue Origin and SpaceX. Both companies are vying to be the first to offer commercial space flight to regular Joe Schmoes like you and me. And while Elon’s company tends to get more attention these days, Bezos is pretty serious about this too.

Remember that it was 11 years ago that we witnessed the first successful launch of a private rocket. That was SpaceX with its Falcon 1. A lot of progress has been made by both companies in the time since.

According to Blue Origin SVP Rob Meyerson, they “plan to start flying our first test passengers soon” and they’re looking to “start selling tickets in 2019.” This will be with the New Shepard reusable launch system, which is depicted in the video render embedded above. When you hit around 60 miles above Earth, passengers will be able to unbuckle their seatbelts and experience weightlessness inside the 530 square-foot capsule.

In terms of cost, estimates place the Blue Origin space flight tickets at between $50,000 and $250,000 each for some low orbital flight. For perspective, Virgin Galactic started taking deposits more than 10 years ago, pricing the tickets at $200,000 each. This is the next frontier, my friends. Let’s boldly go.