British explorer based in UAE to launch into space on Blue Origin flight

Hamish Harding will experience a few minutes of weightlessness after he travels 106 kilometres into orbit on May 20

British explorer Hamish Harding, who has called the UAE his home for more than a decade, will travel to space on a Blue Origin suborbital flight.

The businessman, 50, is known for his adrenalin-fuelled stunts, including journeying to the bottom of the ocean in a submarine in 2021.

He will be part of Blue Origin’s NS-21 flight, which will also fly five other paying customers, on May 20, with a launch window starting at 5.30pm UAE time.

The flight also includes investor and NS-19 crew member Evan Dick; electrical engineer and former Nasa test engineer Katya Echazarreta, also the first Mexican-born woman to fly into space; civil production engineer Victor Correa Hespanha; and adventurer Jaison Robinson.

This mission will be the fifth human flight for Blue Origin’s New Shepard programme and the team was announced by the company on May 9.

The #NS21 crew is getting settled into Astronaut Village. West Texas 🏜️ looks good on y’all. pic.twitter.com/RnfMWbTKWr

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) May 17, 2022

The space tourism company has launched 20 people on these flights since 2021, including company owner and Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos and Star Trek actor William Shatner.

The suborbital flight involves a vertical launch that takes passengers about 106 kilometres above the ground, bringing a few minutes of weightlessness.

It is a 10-minute trip from lift-off near the rural West Texas town of Van Horn to a parachute landing.

A ticket price on a Blue Origin flight has not been revealed, but a ticket was previously sold for $28 million in an auction.

Hamish Harding is going to space on a Blue Origin flight on May 20. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Updated: May 18, 2022, 7:43 AM