Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is looking at the UAE’s desert as a possible location for a spaceport for tourists.
The company has successfully sent eight people into space through its New Shepard suborbital flights — including Star Trek actor William Shatner, 90, who became the oldest person in space.
In an exclusive interview with The National, Brent Sherwood, senior vice president of advanced development programmes for Blue Origin, said the UAE was an “obvious choice” for a spaceport and that it was looking to expand its launch sites from the current one in El Paso, Texas.
“Now that we are operational for tourism, the next thing we are looking at is other locations around the planet to establish launch and landing sites for New Shepard,” he said.
A couple of nights ago I slept over in Sharjah and did some stargazing in the desert. It’s very promising to think about areas here
Brent Sherwood,
Blue Origin
“It’s an obvious place to look here. All we really need is some desert. One of the endearing qualities of the West Texas desert is that it is hard to get to the El Paso airport. You have to drive for a couple of hours and it is in the middle of nowhere.
“A couple of nights ago I slept over in Sharjah and did some stargazing in the desert. It was only 30 minutes away from Dubai, so I think it’s very promising to think about areas here.”
Mr Sherwood was speaking to The National on the sidelines of the International Astronautical Congress, which is taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre until October 29.
Booking space tourism trips from the UAE
AzurX is a private company in Dubai that is working as a strategic adviser to Blue Origin and will work as a bridge between the UAE and space tourism company.
Anna Hazlett, chief executive of AzurX, told The National that it would be helping Blue Origin with its localisation strategy in the UAE, and would assist customers with space tourism flights and opportunities on Orbital Reef — a new private space station Blue Origin announced on Monday.
“The AzurX team is proud to assist Blue Origin in exploring Orbital Reef and space tourism in the UAE,” she said.
“We look forward to developing this exciting program with Blue Origin and bringing opportunities to the UAE, Emirati visionaries, entrepreneurs, and businesses.”
Orbital Reef would be a “mixed-use business park” that would provide easier access to a diverse group of people ranging from tourists to media, science and finance.
Are tickets affordable?
Blue Origin has not revealed the price of a ticket on a New Shepard flight, but one was sold for $28 million during an auction.
Mr Sherwood said prices are expected to decrease once reusable orbital vehicles become more common.
“Costs are coming down already, let's say even in the pricing of New Shepard suborbital seats, where we're seeing that price curve,” he said.
“The first seat was result of an auction and that was a lot of money, but the seats we’ve sold since were not sold for that price, they were sold for less.
“We have a database of interested passengers and we are observing that price point come down. It’s very exciting because we’ve only flown two human missions so far and we’re already seeing that decrease. That will continue as reusable orbital vehicles get more common.
“As to the question of getting all the way down to a price where you and I do it, that’s going to be a while and that’s going to be a long time coming, I think.”
He said Orbital Reef offers more of a “value proposition” than a “short ride to space”.
“With Orbital reef, I can go someplace. So, just like people come to Dubai because it's a destination in itself, it has these attractions and things that are unique in the world,” he said.
“That's what Orbital Reef will be. It’s not just going to space, it’s going to a place in space that has its own set of amenities and entertainments and all that.”
Rival Virgin Galactic signed an agreement with the UAE in 2019 for a spaceport. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the UAE Space Agency and Abu Dhabi Airports to use the Al Ain airport facilities for commercial space flights, but there has been no update on construction provided since then.
How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
Results
United States beat UAE by three wickets
United States beat Scotland by 35 runs
UAE v Scotland – no result
United States beat UAE by 98 runs
Scotland beat United States by four wickets
Fixtures
Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland
Admission is free
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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Thanksgiving meals to try
World Cut Steakhouse, Habtoor Palace Hotel, Dubai. On Thursday evening, head chef Diego Solis will be serving a high-end sounding four-course meal that features chestnut veloute with smoked duck breast, turkey roulade accompanied by winter vegetables and foie gras and pecan pie, cranberry compote and popcorn ice cream.
Jones the Grocer, various locations across the UAE. Jones’s take-home holiday menu delivers on the favourites: whole roast turkeys, an array of accompaniments (duck fat roast potatoes, sausages wrapped in beef bacon, honey-glazed parsnips and carrots) and more, as well as festive food platters, canapes and both apple and pumpkin pies.
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, The Address Hotel, Dubai. This New Orleans-style restaurant is keen to take the stress out of entertaining, so until December 25 you can order a full seasonal meal from its Takeaway Turkey Feast menu, which features turkey, homemade gravy and a selection of sides – think green beans with almond flakes, roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole and bread stuffing – to pick up and eat at home.
The Mattar Farm Kitchen, Dubai. From now until Christmas, Hattem Mattar and his team will be producing game- changing smoked turkeys that you can enjoy at home over the festive period.
Nolu’s, The Galleria Mall, Maryah Island Abu Dhabi. With much of the menu focused on a California inspired “farm to table” approach (with Afghani influence), it only seems right that Nolu’s will be serving their take on the Thanksgiving spread, with a brunch at the Downtown location from 12pm to 4pm on Friday.
England's lowest Test innings
- 45 v Australia in Sydney, January 28, 1887
- 46 v West Indies in Port of Spain, March 25, 1994
- 51 v West Indies in Kingston, February 4, 2009
- 52 v Australia at The Oval, August 14, 1948
- 53 v Australia at Lord's, July 16, 1888
- 58 v New Zealand in Auckland, March 22, 2018
Scores
New Zealand 266 for 9 in 50 overs
Pakistan 219 all out in 47.2 overs
New Zealand win by 47 runs
Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
The Orwell Prize for Political Writing
Twelve books were longlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing. The non-fiction works cover various themes from education, gender bias, and the environment to surveillance and political power. Some of the books that made it to the non-fiction longlist include:
- Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie
- Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me by Kate Clanchy
- Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
- Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims by Hussein Kesvani
- Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS by Azadeh Moaveni