BLUE ORIGIN PRE-LAUNCH PRESS BFG FOR NEW SHEPARD CREWED FLIGHT, July 18, 2021, virtual, 12:00 pm ET

Blue Origin will hold a press briefing on July 18, 2021 at 11:00 am Central Time (12:00 pm Eastern) in advance of the scheduled July 20 first crewed flight of the New Shepard rocket.

Four people will be aboard this first commercial suborbital human spaceflight:  Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark, famed aviatrix Wally Funk (82), and a Dutch teenager, Oliver Daemen (18), whose father participated in a Blue Origin auction for a seat this flight. The still-undiclosed auction winner, who paid $28 million for the provelege of being on this flight, withdrew due to a “schedule conflict” and will fly on a subsequent flight. Blue Orign said Daemen was next in line so they moved his flight up. Daemen will be the youngest, and Funk the oldest, people to fly to space.

The press briefing will air on Blue Origin’s website.

Participants are:

• Bob Smith, Chief Executive Officer
• Steve Lanius, Lead Flight Director
• Audrey Powers, Vice President, New Shepard Operations
• Chris Jaeger, Chief Engineer, New Shepard
• Ariane Cornell, Director of Astronaut Sales