Lauren Sánchez is best known for her TV and news appearances — and a relationship with Jeff Bezos (that had a few publicly dramatic turns) — but now, she could soon be known as the first person to lead an all-woman space mission on Blue Origin. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Sánchez reveals that she’s wanted to fly on earlier missions but Bezos is now encouraging her and thrilled to put together the female crew.
Sánchez isn’t saying who the five women are who will be joining her, something that will be revealed closer to the planned early 2024 flight. “It’s going to be women who are making a difference in the world and who are impactful and have a message to send,” Sánchez tells the Journal. And Bezos won’t be getting an exception to attend her flight. “I’m going to have to hold him back,” Sánchez said. “He’ll be cheering us all on from the sidelines.”
So far, Blue Origin crewed missions have been, for all intents and purposes, recreational flights. The Jeff Bezos-founded private space company has also done missions for NASA that include taking up scientific equipment. SpaceX, its main competitor founded by Elon Musk, is running many manned flights with real astronauts, and last year, SpaceX did its first civilian flight.
The last flight happened on March 31st, which was supposed to have actor and comedian Pete Davidson as an “honorary guest” on board. Davidson was apparently not able to attend after the flight date was changed — a great reminder for all the women who will be flying in 2024 to clear their whole schedule for whatever month it’s on.
