Winds delay Blue Origin's space launch with actor William Shatner

KENT, WASHINGTON - Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin said on Sunday (Oct 10) it had pushed this week's launch target of its New Shepard vehicle to Wednesday (Oct 13), delaying Star Trek actor William Shatner's sojourn to the edge of space by a day.

"Due to forecasted winds on Tuesday, Oct 12, Blue Origin's mission operations team has made the decision to delay the launch of NS-18 and is now targeting Wednesday, Oct 13," the company said in a statement.

Best known as Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek television series, Shatner will be part of a four-person crew aboard the suborbital NS-18 mission.

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The 90-year-old actor is flying as a guest of Blue Origin, but the company has said that it has also sold nearly U$100 million (S$135 million) in tickets to paying customers.

Blue Origin, which had a successful launch with Bezos in July, said that the mission operations team confirmed the vehicle met all requirements and astronauts began their training on Sunday.