{"id":17450,"date":"2021-12-10T21:08:44","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T13:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/blue-origins-latest-suborbital-space-shot-explores-the-final-frontier-of-merchandising\/"},"modified":"2021-12-10T21:08:44","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T13:08:44","slug":"blue-origins-latest-suborbital-space-shot-explores-the-final-frontier-of-merchandising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/blue-origins-latest-suborbital-space-shot-explores-the-final-frontier-of-merchandising\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Origin\u2019s latest suborbital space shot explores the final frontier of merchandising"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"448\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211210-bezos-630x448.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-660899\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211210-bezos-630x448.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211210-bezos-768x547.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211210-bezos.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption>Former football star and future Blue Origin spaceflier Michael Strahan is given a football to take on his trip during an appearance on Thursday Night Football with Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and Blue Origin. (Jeff Bezos via Twitter)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Jeff Bezos\u2019 privately held Blue Origin space venture is starting to look more like the other company he founded: Amazon.<\/p>\n<p>During the run-up to Saturday\u2019s scheduled launch of the venture\u2019s New Shepard suborbital spaceship, you could order a limited-edition Blue Origin sweatshirt created for spaceflier Michael Strahan\u2019s brand, watch Strahan and Bezos mix it up on Thursday Night Football \u2014 and look forward to \u201cShatner in Space,\u201d an Amazon Prime documentary about Star Trek captain William Shatner\u2019s flight in October.<\/p>\n<p>For now, the revenue from merchandising and media projects is certain to pale in comparison with the fares that Blue Origin\u2019s suborbital spaceflight customers are paying, and with the multimillion-dollar awards that Blue Origin is getting from NASA for other space projects.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, the crossovers illustrate how one of Bezos\u2019 big businesses could leverage marketing expertise from the other.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Replay: New Shepard Mission NS-19 Webcast\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MpaiuDg_DN4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Bezos half-jokingly referred to the connection last month during a forum in Washington, D.C., when he was asked whether future space settlements would be able to get Amazon Prime delivery. \u201cIt\u2019ll be built in,\u201d he replied with a laugh. \u201cAmazon hypersonic delivery: It\u2019s coming soon to you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Saturday\u2019s mission, due for liftoff from Blue Origin\u2019s Launch Site One in West Texas at 8:45 a.m. CT (6:45 a.m. PT) represents one small step toward that future.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s known as NS-19 because it\u2019s the 19th flight of a New Shepard spaceship \u2014 and it\u2019s the third flight to carry people, coming after the trip that Bezos took in July and Shatner\u2019s October trip.<\/p>\n<p>This time around, two people are flying as Blue Origin\u2019s guests: Strahan, who\u2019s a co-anchor for ABC\u2019s \u201cGood Morning America\u201d; and Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard. New Shepard is named after the late astronaut, who is recognized as the first American in space by virtue of his suborbital flight in 1961.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Strahan\u2019s final countdown!\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3KC3YyI2b2k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Four others are paying undisclosed fares for the flight: Bess Ventures founder Lane Bess and Cameron Bess, the first parent-and-child duo to go into space together; Dylan Taylor, who is the chairman and CEO of&nbsp;Voyager Space&nbsp;and the founder of a nonprofit group called&nbsp;Space for Humanity; and Evan Dick, an engineer, investor and managing member of New Jersey-based Dick Holdings LLC.<\/p>\n<p>This will be the first Blue Origin flight to carry a full complement of six spacefliers. Although Blue Origin considers them to be crew members, there\u2019s no \u201ccaptain\u201d because the spacecraft is flown autonomously.<\/p>\n<p>If all proceeds according to plan, New Shepard\u2019s hydrogen-fueled booster would lift the crew capsule to a height just beyond 100 kilometers (62 miles), the \u201cKarman Line\u201d that serves as the internationally accepted boundary of space. The spacefliers would get a few minutes of weightlessness and a wide-angle view of the curving Earth through the capsule\u2019s giant windows.<\/p>\n<p>Then the reusable booster would fly itself back to a landing pad not far from where it launched, while the crew would make a parachute-aided touchdown in the West Texas desert. The whole flight is expected to take 10 minutes or so.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the six spacefliers, the capsule will be carrying postcards that they\u2019ve personalized for the Club for the Future, Blue Origin\u2019s nonprofit educational foundation \u2014 plus mementos including the football that Bezos handed Strahan during their spot on Thursday Night Football.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1469104747760295942&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2021%2Fblue-origins-latest-suborbital-space-shot-explores-the-final-frontier-of-merchandising%2F&amp;sessionId=de5591c029b2f1f453474a044edaef95e9dad2db&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1469104747760295942\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782800012573412557=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This Saturday, @michaelstrahan will be taking a trip to space.<\/p>\n<p>YES, you read that right \ud83d\ude80  <\/p>\n<p>Learn more about his trip here \u2b07\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/pQsw6S7N89<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 10, 2021<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>After landing, the crew members will receive custom-made wing pins from Blue Origin. They may also be the last spacefliers to receive astronaut wings from the Federal Aviation Administration. Today the FAA announced that it would stop issuing its Astronaut Wings at the end of the year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe U.S. commercial human spaceflight industry has come a long way from conducting test flights to launching paying customers into space,\u201d&nbsp;FAA Associate Administrator Wayne Monteith&nbsp;said in a news release. \u201cThe Astronaut Wings program, created in 2004, served its original purpose to bring additional attention to this exciting endeavor. Now it\u2019s time to offer recognition to a larger group of adventurers daring to go to space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The FAA\u2019s announcement suggests that Bezos and Shatner will be among the spacefliers getting in on the last batch of commercial astronaut wings \u2014 along with Virgin Galactic\u2019s billionaire founder, Richard Branson, who took a suborbital space ride just before Bezos did; and the crew of the Inspiration4 philanthropic mission, who rode into orbit on a SpaceX Crew Dragon in September. (Government-funded spacefliers, including NASA astronauts, will continue to get wings in accordance with decades-old traditions.)<\/p>\n<p>This doesn\u2019t mean future commercial spacefliers will miss out entirely on FAA recognition: The agency will continue to list those who travel beyond the 50-mile space milestone on its website.<\/p>\n<p>The list is sure to grow longer: After his flight in July, Bezos said Blue Origin had brought in nearly $100 million in privately negotiated sales for future flights. That would buy a lot of Michael Strahan sweatshirts.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mission timeline<\/h2>\n<p><em>Liftoff for Blue Origin\u2019s NS-19 mission is scheduled for 8:45 a.m. CT (6:45 a.m. PT) Saturday, with launch coverage set to begin via Blue Origin\u2019s website at T-minus-90 minutes. Times could change due to weather or technical concerns. Check Blue Origin\u2019s Twitter account for updates.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>T-minus-7.25 hours (1:30 a.m. CT Dec. 11 \/ 11:30 p.m. PT Dec. 10):<\/strong> Rocket rolls out.<br \/><strong>T-minus-3 hours (5:45 a.m. CT \/ 3:45 a.m. PT):<\/strong> Propellant load begins.<br \/><strong>T-minus-90 minutes (7:15 a.m. CT \/ 5:15 a.m. PT):<\/strong> Launch coverage begins.<br \/><strong>T-minus-45 minutes (8 a.m. CT \/ 6 a.m. PT):<\/strong> Astronauts proceed to launch tower.<br \/><strong>T-minus-36 minutes (8:09 a.m. CT \/ 6:09 a.m.PT):<\/strong> Astronauts ascend tower.<br \/><strong>T-minus-31 minutes (8:14 a.m. CT \/ 6:14 a.m. PT):<\/strong> Astronauts enter crew capsule.<br \/><strong>T-minus-24 minutes (8:21 a.m. CT \/ 6:21 a.m. PT):<\/strong> Crew capsule hatch closed.<\/p>\n<p><em> \u201cShatner in Space\u201d is scheduled to make its debut on Amazon Prime Video on Dec. 15.<\/em><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former football star and future Blue Origin spaceflier Michael Strahan is given a football to take on his trip during an appearance on Thursday Night Football with Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and Blue Origin. (Jeff Bezos via Twitter) Jeff Bezos\u2019 privately held Blue Origin space venture is starting to look more like the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[509,1250],"class_list":["post-17450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-blue-origin","tag-new-shepard"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17450"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}