Gary Lai has been named as the sixth crewmember for Blue Origin's NS-20 suborbital mission, which is set to launch on March 29 from West Texas. Pete Davidson had been scheduled to fill that spot, but the "Saturday Night Live" star backed out after the mission was postponed from its original Mar. 23 launch date.
NS-20 will be the 20th suborbital spaceflight of Blue Origin's autonomous New Shepard vehicle, a reusable rocket-capsule combo, and its fourth to carry people to the final frontier. The mission will undoubtedly be incredibly meaningful for Lai, considering he'll be flying aboard a spaceship that he designed.
"Gary is best known as the architect of the New Shepard system, including leading the team responsible for the design and development of many of the key safety systems on the crew capsule," Blue Origin representatives said in a statement on Monday. "He joined Blue Origin in 2004 and was among the first 20 employees."
According to the statement, Lai is currently the senior director and chief architect of New Shepard, "responsible for all next-generation designs, upgrades, and new product development for the New Shepard business."
The NS-20 crew also includes businessman and angel investor Marty Allen, philanthropic couple Sharon and Marc Hagle, entrepreneur and teacher Jim Kitchen, and George Nield, president of Commercial Space Technologies, LLC and former associate administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation.
Customers who pay include Allen, the Hagles, Kitchen, and Nield. Lai is unlikely to have to pay because he is a company employee inheriting Davidson's seat, which was supposedly given away for free.
The offer to Davidson was the latest in a line of similar gestures. At least one celebrity was offered for free on each of Blue Origin's first three flights, which is likely to help build interest and media coverage. In July 2021, Bezos and aviation pioneer Wally Funk took to the skies, "Star Trek" actor William Shatner flew in October, and NFL legend and "Good Morning America" anchor Michael Strahan in December.
Blue Origin has not announced the cost of riding New Shepard, which provides a few minutes of weightlessness and a view of Earth against the blackness of space during each about 11-minute voyage. Virgin Galactic, the company's main rival in the suborbital space tourism market, is presently charging $450,000 for a seat on its VSS Unity space aircraft, which is set to begin flying customers later this year.
