A French entrepreneur went to space aboard a tourist flight

A French entrepreneur went into space on Sunday May 19 aboard a Blue Origin rocket, almost two years after the American company’s last crewed flight. Sylvain Chiron took off aboard the small New Shepard rocket from West Texas with five other passengers at 9:36 a.m. (4:36 p.m. P. timearis), reaching space during a flight of around ten minutes.

This 52-year-old Savoyard arrived on Thursday at the Launch site one site, the Blue Origin base in the middle of the Texan desert. The ticket price is kept secret. “Yes, it’s expensive” but “not completely crazy either”he only confided. According to him, Blue Origin received “thousands of applications”. Sylvain Chiron believes he was selected thanks to a file demonstrating his “devouring passion for space”.

Sylvain Chiron is the twelfth Frenchman to have been in space. Ten French astronauts have traveled to space, the latest of which is Thomas Pesquet. In 2023, the Franco-Italian Ketty Maisonrouge flew with a company competing with Blue Origin in this niche of short flights, Virgin Galactic.

Blue Origin was founded by multi-billionaire and major shareholder of Amazon Jeff Bezos. The company took 37 people above the Karman line, which marks the boundary of space at an altitude of 100 km according to an international convention. In 2023, the Franco-Italian Ketty Maisonrouge flew with a company competing with Blue Origin in this niche of short flights, Virgin Galactic.