BENGALURU: The US-based Space Exploration & Research Agency (SERA) announced a partnership with Blue Origin to develop a human spaceflight program for citizens of nations who have historically lacked access to space. The program will provide the opportunity for regular citizens from around the world to become astronauts and participate in space science. The inaugural flight for the Blue Origin New Shepard mission has reserved all six seats, one of which could be for India.
In line with the mission’s objective, five of the seats will be allocated to five partner nations who have either never had an astronaut or very few. The sixth seat will be open to a person of any nation. The company will be collaborating with National Space Agencies and regional research institutions to support the mission and develop the science experiment payloads onboard the flight. Partner nations will be announced over the coming months.
SERA wants to create a space agency for everyone and accelerate global participation in the sector, as even to this day, 80 per cent of all astronauts come from just three countries and own maximum in-space infrastructure.
“Despite the trillions spent by governments, there have usually been only a handful of people in the space at any given time over the last three decades. The unimaginably rich material and energy resources of the solar system remain entirely untapped. With launch costs coming down, this is all about to change, and SERA wants to make sure that everyone on Earth has the chance to participate in the growth of the off-world economy,” said Sam Hutchison, Co-Founder of SERA.