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Watch Blue Origin launch 4-person crew, including William Shatner, to space live

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAcufhwjR2I?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent&w=640&h=360]

Barely three months after Blue Origin successfully sent its first crewed rocket to orbit, it's poised for another launch on Wednesday, October 13. This time, instead of Blue's founder and CEO Jeff Bezos headlining the flight, the company will be sending 90-year old William Shatner, who is set to become the oldest person to go to space.

The NS-18 mission is set to take off from Launch Site One, the company's sprawling launch facility near Van Horn, in the western part of Texas. The crew will be flying in the company's New Shepard rocket. The launch was originally scheduled to fly on October 12, but Blue Origin's Mission Operations decided on Sunday to push it back by one day due to forecasted high winds.

Meet the crew of New Shepard's NS-18 mission:

  • William Shatner, the actor arguably best-known for having played Captain James T. Kirk on “Star Trek.”

  • Audrey Powers, who serves as the company’s vice president of New Shepard Mission & Flight Operations. She’s been with Blue since 2013, and served as its deputy general counsel before leaving the mission and flight operations team for the company’s New Shepard rocket.

  • Chris Boshuizen, co-founder of Planet Labs and current partner at venture capital firm DCVC.

  • Glen de Vries, co-founder of the clinical trial software company Medidata Solutions. He’s also the vice chair of life sciences and healthcare at Dassault Systèmes, a French software company that acquired Medidata in 2019.

The launch livestream above is set to begin at around 5:30 AM PT (8:30 AM ET) on October 13, with the launch scheduled to take place roughly one hour after.

Crew member Boshuizen joined us last year at TC Sessions: Space; the next event is coming up in December — still plenty of time to grab your tickets.