William Shatner, a.k.a. Captain Kirk, Is Going to Space For Real on Jeff Bezos’ Rocket Ship
William Shatner explored the depths of space while playing Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise. Now, the 90-year-old will get to put a fresh spin on his iconic line, "Beam me up, Scotty" — only this time, he'll be asking Jeff Bezos for a lift.
The acclaimed actor will be one of four passengers on board Blue Origin's rocket New Shepard NS-18 when the ship launches Oct. 12.
The company Blue Origin was founded by Bezos, who is best known as the billionaire founder of Amazon.
Shatner's involvement with the upcoming launch was confirmed on Blue Origin's website today (Oct. 4). Once the mission is complete, he will officially become the oldest person to fly to space.
“I’ve heard about space for a long time now. I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle,” Shatner enthused.
He also made an appropriate reference to Elton John's classic anthem "Rocket Man" and gushed about the upcoming opportunity on Twitter. "Now I can say something," he wrote after the news was confirmed. "Yes, it's true; I'm going to be a 'rocket man!'"
Check out his tweet below.
Shatner's crew won't be quite the same as it was in Star Trek. While Spock won't be along for the ride, the actor will be joined on the voyage by Audrey Powers, Blue Origin's Vice President of Mission & Flight Operations.
“I’m so proud and humbled to fly on behalf of Team Blue, and I’m excited to continue writing Blue’s human spaceflight history,” Powers said in a statement shared on the website.
ET notes that Shatner and Power's other crew mates include Chris Boshuizen, co-founder of Planet Labs, and Glen De Vries, co-founder of Medidata.
New Shepard NS-18 will take off from Launch Site One in West Texas at 9:30 am ET on Oct. 12. The launch will be live-streamed on the company's website.
While Blue Origin's billionaire founder will not be aboard the ship, AP reports that the he did travel on the company's first space mission earlier this year. He was joined by three other travelers. Notably, one was Wally Funk, who trained to become one of the first female pilots in the 1960s but never made it to space prior to 2021.