Second crewed mission of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to lift off on October 12

Bezos, 57, founded Blue Origin in 2000 with the goal of one day building floating space colonies with artificial gravity where millions of people will work and live.

Businessman billionaire Jeff Bezos' aerospace venture Blue Origin announced the launch date of its second human mission along with the names of two of the four crew members of spacecraft New Shepard 18 (NS18).

The 18th flight of New Shepard (hence, the name NS18) is set to lift off on October 12 with Chris Boshuizen, a former NASA engineer and co-founder of Planet Labs, and Glen de Vries, Vice-Chair, Life Sciences and Healthcare, Dassault Systèmes and co-founder, Medidata, along with two others, whose names are yet to be announced.

We’re excited to welcome Chris Boshuizen (@cboshuizen) and Glen de Vries (@CaptainClinical) on board #NewShepard #NS18 which will lift off from Launch Site One on Oct. 12. The two other crew will be announced soon. Learn more: https://t.co/qbUpI5OuVI

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— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) September 27, 2021

“This is a fulfillment of my greatest childhood dream,” Boshuizen said. “More importantly, though, I see this flight as an opportunity to inspire students to pursue careers in STEM and catalyse the next generation of space explorers. After all, our future of life in space is in their very capable hands.”

Liftoff is currently targeted for 8:30 am CDT / 13:30 UTC from Launch Site One in West Texas. This flight follows Blue Origin’s successful first human flight on July 20 which included Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and Blue Origin’s first customer, Oliver Daemen.

“I’ve spent my entire career working to extend people’s lives. However, with limited materials and energy on Earth, extending our reach into space can help humanity continue to thrive,” Vries said in a statement.

"Furthermore, astronauts can experience the 'overview effect,' gaining a new perspective on how fragile and precious our planet, those resources, and our civilization are. Playing a part in advancing the space industry and one day making those resources and that understanding available to everyone, is an incredible opportunity. I’ve been passionate about aviation and space for as long as I can remember, so this flight is truly a dream come true,” he added.

Bezos, 57, founded Blue Origin in 2000 with the goal of one day building floating space colonies with artificial gravity where millions of people will work and live.

Today, the company is developing a heavy-lift orbital rocket called New Glenn and also a Moon lander it is hoping to contract to NASA.