Space for all: Seats open on SERA-Blue Origin rocket ride

Bengaluru: The possibilities in space exploration, increasingly equated with soft power and nationalist expression, are inspiring private missions to usher space enthusiasts into the crew capsule.

Space Exploration and Research Agency (SERA) is building its pitch for democratised space travel around the idea of citizen astronauts. The US-based agency is offering the global public six seats in its next mission on a New Shepard, Blue Origin’s reusable suborbital rocket. An Indian on board is a distinct possibility.

SERA co-presidents and founders Joshua Skurla and Sam Hutchison said the mission promotes a larger vision to make space accessible to all, to enable everyone to have a stake in the off-world economy.

Five of the seats in the upcoming mission are reserved for partner nations with no or limited number of astronauts; the sixth is open to all. The crew and the science experiments will be selected through a public vote, in line with SERA’s plans for community-powered space projects.

The agency sees India as a sixth-seat candidate and a prospective partner nation. “India has had astronauts and there are more getting ready for future missions. There is a lot of energy around its new space economy. Activating the Indian community around this opportunity will empower both India and other nations that haven’t had an astronaut or a comprehensive space programme, like some of the countries in South East Asia, Africa and South America,” Skurla told DH.

The New Shepard takes astronauts on an 11-minute journey, that includes periods of weightlessness, past the Karman line which separates the earth’s atmosphere and outer space (at about 100 km above mean sea level) and makes a controlled descent to the landing pad.

Initial conversations with Indian agencies including IN-SPACe have been encouraging. Some of the partner nations have confirmed participation as SERA prepares for announcements by the end of June.

Crew picked by people

Hutchison said the public vote reflects a truly democratic engagement that also gets people excited about space. “The legacy of this mission will be to promote public dialogue about the benefits of space exploration and commercialisation. India is taking space seriously with an active national space programme and an incredibly interesting new space environment,” he said.

The astronauts are required to meet the Blue Origin specifications. They can earn votes by telling their story to the public, using their mission profile pages, social media and other resources. Voting will progress through candidate elimination across three phases. Participants will be able to vote only for candidates from their nation or region, except for the sixth global seat.

In the third phase, the remaining candidates will feature in a docuseries. They will form into crews – one representative for each seat – and compete in STEM-related challenges streamed over multiple episodes. At this stage, votes will be polled for entire crews, and not individuals, at the end of every episode. The final crew of six will report for training, three days before the flight, on the Blue Origin ranch in West Texas.

The astronaut launch costs, determined by Blue Origin, are borne by SERA. Participants are required to join SERA by paying a fee of around $2.50, to cover the costs of checks that ensure safe, fair voting.

The mission extends SERA’s partnership with Blue Origin under which, in June 2022, 28-year-old Brazilian civil engineer Victor Hespanha flew on the New Shepard mission NS-21. Hespanha, Brazil’s second astronaut, has since become a national hero. “We knew that if we were to do this again, it had to be with the whole crew capsule,” Skurla said.

Registered SERA members can also propose and select science experiments the mission crew perform in space. Partner space agencies and research institutions will curate these proposals before SERA members make the final selection of experiments in three areas – cellular biology, fluid dynamics, and human physiology.

“It’s important for us that this is a meaningful scientific mission; the astronauts won’t be just admiring the view but undertaking the experiments selected by the public,” Hutchison said.