SERA and Blue Origin offer trips to the edge of space for $2.50

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The Scientific Exploration and Research Agency has reserved six seats on a Blue Origin flight for people from India, Nigeria and small island developing states.

The US Space Exploration and Research Agency (SERA), which describes itself as a “space agency for everyone”, will fly citizens from India, Nigeria and small island developing states (SIDS) to the outer reaches of the atmosphere in partnership with Blue Origin, the space tourism venture of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Each nation is assigned a seat on an upcoming Blue Origin flight, and applicants can secure a spot for just $2.50.

“India has achieved remarkable milestones in its space journey in recent years, including becoming the first country to reach the South Pole of the Moon,” said Joshua Skurla, Co-Founder of SERA, about the new partner country in the programme.

Last month, the United States and India strengthened their collaboration on human spaceflight and space security. NASA is also preparing an Indian astronaut for a trip to the International Space Station as early as this year.

SERA works with countries whose citizens have few or no citizens who have reached the edge of infinity. In April, it purchased six seats on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket that will carry citizen astronauts to the Kármán Line, which at 100 kilometers is considered the boundary between Earth and space.

Formerly known as the Crypto Space Agency and funded by NFTs, the program played a role in Blue Origin’s fifth human spaceflight, NS-21, by awarding a seat to Brazilian civil engineer Victor Hespanha, that country’s second astronaut, through a random drawing.

According to SERA, more than 8 out of 10 astronauts come from just three countries: the United States, Russia and China. In June, it partnered with Nigeria’s National Space Research and Development Agency to send that country’s first citizen into space.

“Our mission is to democratize space by empowering citizens from more than 150 countries with limited access to space to participate in groundbreaking research and make history,” Skurla said. “Our goal is to empower citizens around the world to have a voice and participate in the future of space exploration.”

In an unprecedented initiative, SERA will allow citizens around the world to vote to choose which citizens will make the approximately 11-minute journey.

Anyone residing in one of the program’s partner countries can apply for a spot. Applicants must be proficient in English, at least 18 years old, and meet Blue Origin’s height, weight, fitness, and citizenship requirements.

Five seats will be allocated to specific nations and candidates will be elected by citizens of those nations. The sixth will be open to anyone residing in a SERA partner country and chosen by a global vote. The remaining seats will be announced later this year.

During the second quarter of 2024, voters will choose from 24 final candidates. They will then design and vote on the experiments that astronauts will perform during the flight. Later this year, a pre-launch documentary series will reveal the winning experiments.

After three days of training at Blue Origin’s launch site in West Texas, the civilian crew will suit up aboard New Shepard shortly after the third quarter. The company’s next mission, NS-26, does not yet have a scheduled launch date.

“By giving communities the power to choose their astronauts, we are ensuring that this mission is by the people, for the people,” said Sam Hutchison, who co-founded SERA alongside Skurla. “This approach will spark national conversations about space and foster international collaboration in space exploration.”

Hutchison was previously president of Reaction Engines, a Boeing-backed company that designs rocket engines for hypersonic flight.

SERA said its next mission would be the first in a series of flights in partnership with Blue Origin. The company’s New Shepard rocket returned to action in December after a grounding and FAA investigation into a September 2022 incident and launched another mission in May, its first crewed flight in nearly two years.

So far, the spacecraft has performed as expected, which should give SERA confidence that it can send more civilians into space in the near future.

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This article was first published on flyingmag.com.

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