Blue Origin and SERA Launches Competition and More Chances For Everyday People to Go to Space

SERA’s mission of creating ‘a space agency for everyone’ is set to expand further, with six spaces reserved aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket and earmarked for regular, everyday people to go to space.

Blue Origin and SERA to make space accessible for everyone

Partnering with Blue Origin again, SERA is taking its next steps after sending Victor Hespanha from Brazil into space in 2022. His journey saw him become SERA’s first astronaut even though he was a civil engineer with no specific space training before his involvement with the company. 

Sam Hutchison, the cofounder of SERA, spoke about how this one-off Brazilian astronaut would become a blueprint for future trips.

“We were surprised because Brazil had had an astronaut, Marcos Pontes, about 16 years previously. But there hadn’t been a relatable young person and he became a cause célèbre in Brazil,” says Hutchinson. Co-founder and film producer Joshua Skurla then took things further and suggested a larger mission sending more everyday people to space:

“We said, `Look, if we did this again, we’d buy all six seats and send six people from countries that have never had astronauts before,’” he recalls. “And they said, `If you wanna do that, we’re all in. We’ll partner with you.’”

SERA is now looking to open up a human spaceflight program to citizens worldwide, with a specific focus on regions where there is limited astronaut representation (just like Brazil). This collaboration will see six more astronauts go to space as part of SERA’s “diverse global community”.

Candidates will vie for six seats, and there are also 24 experiment spots that are a part of the New Shepard flight. 

There are even discussions regarding live streaming, and the ethos of the mission will revolve around openness and inclusiveness. There are only a few restrictions and guidelines relating to age and health (candidates must be 18 or over and meet weight guidelines) but specific space training is not needed to apply. 

The process shared by SERA is:

1. Tell your story to the world through your Mission profile page
2. Generate support through socials and word of mouth and encourage people to vote for you
3. Complete themed content prompts to reach a broader audience

Eventually, things will be recorded and broadcast on social media and people will be invited to vote on who they think should be involved. 

The flight will reach the Kármán Line and stay above it for a few minutes of weightlessness. We would call this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but it seems SERA’s goal is to make sure there are more opportunities for everyday people to get involved. 

Full details on pre-applying and what the process will look like can be found here.