Travel

Jeff Bezos Is Getting Astronaut Wings. But Soon, the F.A.A. Won’t Award Them.


Jeff Bezos is officially an astronaut. Really — just ask the federal government.

The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday that it was ending a program that awarded small gold pins called “Commercial Space Astronaut Wings” to certain people who flew to space on private spacecraft.

But before the program officially retires in January, all who applied for the gold wings after flying to space this year will still receive them, the agency said. That means Mr. Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon who rode a rocket with his space company, Blue Origin, to the edge of space in July, will be considered a commercial astronaut.

So will Richard Branson, the founder of the space tourism firm Virgin Galactic who flew his own company’s rocket plane to space in the same month. William Shatner, the Star Trek star who flew with Blue Origin to the edge of space in October, will also receive astronaut wings to go with his Starfleet paraphernalia. Twelve other people were also added to the federal agency’s list of wing recipients on Friday.

The changes will help the F.A.A. avoid the potentially awkward position of proclaiming that some space tourists are only passengers, not astronauts.

NASA picks its astronauts through an exhaustive selection process, and astronaut candidates endure years of safety and technical training before their first flights to space. By contrast, passengers and paying tourists aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket train for a few days, before launching to the edge of space and back in a fully autonomous mission that lasts roughly 10 minutes. Virgin Galactic, Mr. Branson’s space tourism firm, offers a similar experience on a space plane that launches midair off a carrier plane.

Companies could nominate the private passengers on their rockets to be awarded commercial astronaut wings by the F.A.A. Blue Origin had nominated the passengers aboard all of its New Shepard flights by sending applications to the agency, but the company hadn’t received a response for months. It was unclear whether Mr. Bezos would meet the criteria for demonstrating “activities during flight that were essential to public safety.”

But the F.A.A. settled the uncertainty on Friday by tossing out its criteria from July and awarding the wings to everyone who flew to space on private spacecraft this year. The new criteria was outlined in the agency’s statement: “Any individual who is on an F.A.A.-licensed or permitted launch and reaches 50 statute miles above the surface of the Earth.”

SpaceX’s first four private passengers, who spent three days in orbit aboard its Crew Dragon spacecraft in September, were also named as wing recipients.

Any private spaceflight passenger who flies to space before the year’s end will also be eligible. That will include Saturday’s scheduled flight of six passengers by Blue Origin, including Michael Strahan, the TV host and former Giants defensive end.

Although no one will receive the little gold pins after 2021, those who fly above 50 miles on an F.A.A.-licensed rocket will be honored in the agency’s online database.

But future space tourists should not despair a lack of post-flight flair. Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin and SpaceX have each presented paying and guest passengers with custom-designed wings.



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