Blue Origin's next flight to carry 6, not 4; Daughter of 1st American to fly in space joins crew

After two successful missions, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' space firm Blue Origin is set for yet another flight on December 9.

The Crew-3 flight will be the first to carry six astronauts to space, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. The last two missions carried only four.

The crew will include two honorary guests -- 'Good Morning America' co-anchor Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of Alan Shepard, who was the first American to fly to space.

The other are four paying customers -- space industry executive and philanthropist Dylan Taylor, investor Evan Dick, Bess Ventures founder Lane Bess, and Cameron Bess. Lane and Cameron Bess will become the first parent-child pair to fly in space, the company said.

"We're thrilled to welcome Laura Shepard Churchley, @MichaelStrahan, @Dylan, Evan Dick, Lane Bess and Cameron Bess on #NewShepard's 19th mission to space on December 9," the company tweeted on Tuesday.

The Crew-3 mission furthers the company's vision of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. It will be New Shepard's third human flight this year, the sixth for the programme in 2021, and the 19th in its history.

Blue Origin's blasted off its second human flight to space on October 13, with the original Star Trek's Captain James T. Kirk (actor William Shatner) who became the oldest man ever to travel to space, along with NASA engineer Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries, a co-founder of software company Medidata, and Audrey Powers, Vice President of missions and flight operations.

Bezos brothers 

On July 20, Blue Origin carried its first human flight which included Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and Blue Origin's first customer, Oliver Daemen.

In October, Bezos' space firm has also announced plans to build a commercial space station called Orbital Reef by second half of this decade.

For the project Blue Origin has partnered with spaceflight company Sierra Space, a subsidiary of the Sierra Nevada Corporation, Boeing, Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions, and Arizona State University.

"The station will open the next chapter of human space exploration and development by facilitating the growth of a vibrant ecosystem and business model for the future," the company had announced.