‘Star Trek’ actor William Shatner will allegedly go to space with Jeff Bezos

By Alma Fabiani

Published Sep 28, 2021 at 11:53 AM

Reading time: 1 minute

23031

In his seven decades of acting, William Shatner became a cultural icon for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise. Now, he’s about to set a new record in his career after TMZ reported on Saturday 25 September that the actor will be heading off to space alongside Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in October 2021. Aged 90, Shatner will be going where no man of his age has gone before.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by William Shatner (@williamshatner)

According to TMZ, the actor will be on board Bezos’ New Shepard capsule for the 15-minute civilian flight while the mission will be filmed for a documentary. As of now, it remains unclear exactly who else will be joining the Star Trek star on the flight but it is safe to assume that the line-up won’t be disappointing, considering the individuals who received a ticket to Blue Origin’s first mission earlier this year. It is also unsure what amount Shatner is paying in order to be a part of the latest space mission.

This news comes as little surprise as it has been reported simultaneously that Bezos, who once called Blue Origin his “life’s most important work,” has doubled the time he devotes to his space company. According to CNBC, the billionaire has long dedicated Wednesday afternoons to either updates or discussions at Blue Origin—meetings that were in person before the COVID-19 pandemic and have been by phone since. However, within the past month he has added Tuesday afternoons to his schedule as well, inside sources told CNBC.

Bezos’ alleged doubled effort comes at a critical moment in Blue Origin’s history. The company is locked in a somewhat petty court battle over NASA’s award of a multibillion-dollar lunar lander contract to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, while a key customer of its BE-4 rocket engines is becoming increasingly vocal after years of delay, and its first orbital rocket is similarly years behind schedule.

The added time spent on Blue Origin partially illustrates how Bezos is renewing his focus on the company. For example, one person told CNBC that he used to hold a companywide question-and-answer session with employees every year but had stopped doing so. “Now he is turning his attention back to Blue Origin,” writes the publication.

One thing is for certain, if Shatner does end up going to space with Bezos in October, get ready to see Elon Musk trek into the stars with someone even more emblematic—think Mark Hamill or Morgan Freeman.

Keep On Reading

By Abby Amoakuh

I sat down with two professional matchmakers to solve Gen Z’s dating fatigue

By Eliza Frost

Do artists really owe us surprise guests at gigs, or are our expectations out of control?

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Robert F. Kennedy Jr declares war on teen sperm count, stating it’s an existential crisis

By Charlie Sawyer

Donald trump to accept $400M luxury plane from Qatar royal family

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Kim Kardashian’s Paris $10 million heist: grandpa robbers tell all as trial begins

By Eliza Frost

What is Banksying? Inside the latest toxic dating trend even worse than ghosting

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Conspiracy theorists are convinced Blue Origin’s all-female space flight was fake

By Charlie Sawyer

Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper accuses former soccer coach of sexual harassment in new docuseries

By Charlie Sawyer

Wednesday star Jenna Ortega reveals surprising dream role in recent interview

By Abby Amoakuh

BLACKPINK’s Lisa faces backlash after wearing civil rights icon Rosa Parks on her crotch at Met Gala

By Charlie Sawyer

McDonald’s hit with new mass boycott. Here’s who’s behind it and why

By Eliza Frost

Why do people want a nose like the Grinch? The Whoville TikTok trend explained

By Eliza Frost

Kendall Jenner reveals plans to quit Kardashian fame for a normal job

By Eliza Frost

Netflix’s new Trainwreck documentary exposes the rise and scandalous fall of American Apparel

By Abby Amoakuh

Right-wing Christian podcaster claims that airport body scanners can turn you gay

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Did Chappell Roan push her assistant on the red carpet? We analyse the footage

By Charlie Sawyer

The #MeToo movement is at risk. How the Harvey Weinstein retrial risks doing unimaginable damage 

By Eliza Frost

The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 proves we’ll never be over love triangles

By Eliza Frost

How The Summer I Turned Pretty licensed so much of Taylor Swift’s discography for its soundtrack 

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Are Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins feuding? Fans freak out after The White Lotus co-stars unfollow each other