SNL comic Pete Davidson, who once played an astronaut on a sketch with Elon Musk, may be a passenger on an upcoming Blue Origin flight, reported Page Six. The Jeff Bezos-owned commercial space travel company has successfully launched three crewed spaceflights over the past year. A source close to Davidson said that while he had yet to sign an official contract, details are currently being finalized. It’s unlikely the 28-year old’s desire to be launched into space at the cost of $2.5 million per minute just appeared out of nowhere. In fact, Davidson and his girlfriend Kim Kardashian dined with Jeff Bezos and his partner Lauren Sanchez earlier this year. According to Page Six’s source, Davidson “got on really well” with Bezos.
How much is Davidson’s journey into the edge of space going to cost? Blue Origin has been notoriously tight-lipped about the price of seats on its future flights. The winning bid in a public auction for a seat on the very first Blue Origin flight was $28 million. The winner, Justin Sun, CEO of blockchain platform Tron, later had to give up his seat because of “scheduling conflicts” (luckily he was able to reschedule the once-in-a-lifetime experience for another date). But the actual price of a seat is most likely far less. The cost of upcoming suborbital flights through Richard Branson’s commercial flight company, Virgin Galactic, is a far more frugal $400,000. Bezos has said in earlier interviews that a seat on Blue Origin’s New Shepard would likely be in the same ballpark. Given that Davidson’s net worth is estimated to be around $8 million, it’s likely this will be more appropriate for his budget range. Not all Blue Origin passengers have had to pay, so it’s possible Davidson may have secured a better deal.
New Glenn’s next flight is scheduled for takeoff at some point in the fourth quarter of 2022. Thanks to the surge of celebrity interest in Bezo’s commercial space venture, Davidson will actually be the third SNL alum to join a Blue Origin flight. Former Blue Origin passengers William Shatner and Bezos have both hosted SNL.
Author: A. Khalid
Source: Engadget
