Jeff Bezos’ girlfriend prepares for all-female flight on Blue Origin mission

IANS

San Francisco, January 26

Lauren Sanchez, girlfriend of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, can soon be known as the first person to lead an all-woman space mission on Blue Origin.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, she revealed that Bezos is encouraging her to put together a five-member female crew to fly on a Blue Origin rocket to space.

The Emmy-winning TV host-turned-helicopter pilot became a well known name when her relationship with the Amazon founder was made public in January 2019.

“It’s going to be women who are making a difference in the world and who are impactful and have a message to send,” Sanchez was quoted as saying.

“I’m going to have to hold him (Bezos) back. He’ll be cheering us all on from the sidelines,” she added.

Apart from recreational flights, the Bezos-founded private space company has performed missions for NASA that include taking up scientific equipment.

Blue Origin last year successfully launched its fifth tourist flight to space.

Six people were carried to space above the Karman line—an internationally recognised boundary of space that lies 62 miles (100 km) above the Earth’s surface—in a typical 11-minute flight.

The flight was the 21st overall for Blue Origin and New Shepard. It was the second crewed flight for the company this year, following NS-20, which launched and landed on March 31, 2022.

The company conducted its fourth human flight to the edge of space with six people in March.