Glen De Vries, co-founder of a tech company, took a 10-minute flight to the edge of space aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft with Shatner and two others. De Vries died in a crash on Thursday.
NASA's leaders say an overly aggressive timeline from the Trump administration and a legal fight over a contract are two reasons why it's altering plans for the Artemis lunar program.
By the end of the 2020s, Blue Origin says its planned Orbital Reef commercial space station will become "the premier mixed-use space station in low Earth orbit for commerce, research, and tourism."
Shatner, 90, became the oldest person to fly into space, according to Blue Origin. The company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, launched its first human spaceflight in July.
New space companies are touting space tourism. But so far the final frontier has been the playground of the rich or famous, plus a few everyday folks who had a bit of luck.
At age 90, the Star Trek actor is poised to become the oldest person ever to visit space. "It's never too late to experience new things," Shatner said on Monday.
In April, NASA chose Elon Musk's SpaceX to receive a highly sought-after $2.9 billion contract. It would involve the first spacecraft to land humans on the moon since 1972.
The Amazon founder became the second billionaire this month to reach the edge of space — following Richard Branson, who rocketed there aboard a vessel made by his company Virgin Galactic.
Passengers joining Jeff Bezos on the suborbital flight will include Oliver Daemen, 18, and Wally Funk, 82. Funk was older than Daemen is now back in the 1960s when she trained to be an astronaut.
Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos is going up July 20 on a rocket made by his space exploration company Blue Origin. So is his brother. And now a mystery bidder has won an auction to join them.
"Ever since I was five years old, I've dreamed of traveling to space," Bezos said. The 11-minute flight will take place two weeks after the billionaire steps down as Amazon CEO.
