Blue Origin Gets FAA Approval To Carry Humans Into Space Ahead Of Jeff Bezos Flight

Amazon.com Inc AMZN founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin on Monday secured a license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to carry humans on the New Shepard launch system into space, the aviation agency said.

What Happened: The FAA license is valid through August and comes ahead of Bezos' maiden flight to the edge of space on July 20 and days after Sir Richard Branson successfully flew in space as a passenger on Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc SPCE’s Unity 22.

New Shepard, named after Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard who was the first American to go to space, takes a vertical-takeoff and vertical-landing approach unlike Unity 22, which takes off from a runway and drops spaceships mid-air from between the fuselages.

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk, whose space venture SpaceX is scheduled to launch a private astronaut mission in September, has reserved a ticket for a future Virgin Galactic flight. 

Trip aboard New Shepard was auctioned off at $28 million in June for which the company began accepting bids in May.

Price Action: SPCE shares closed 17.3% lower at $40.69 on Monday, those of Amazon closed marginally down to $3,718.55.

Read Next: Billionaire Space Flight Turns Into Space Fight As Elon Musk, Blue Origin CEO Take Potshots At Richard Branson

Photo: Courtesy of Blue Origin