Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight company Blue Origin is inching ever closer to launching tourists into sub-orbital space. But before that happens, the venture wants to hire someone to make future trips to the vacuum a very high-class experience.
Blue Origin recently posted a job ad for an “Astronaut Experience Manager” on its website, a gig that’s unlike most you’ll find in the aerospace industry. Whoever is hired for the position will be less focused on the minutiae of engineering and more concentrated on creating a full, luxurious adventure for customers flying with the company.
“As the Astronaut Experience Manager you will work with a team that is creating a highly differentiated offering that culminates in the customer becoming an astronaut,” the description states. “In this role you will have direct impact on the history of space exploration, requiring your dedicated commitment and detailed attention towards safe and repeatable spaceflight.”
Based on the description, the employee will be responsible for creating the “astronaut hospitality program,” as well as coming up with the manifest and training content for customers. But above all, the manager will need to “develop a thorough understanding of astronaut needs and desires,” which will then be used to “help delight customers.” Blue Origin is looking for someone who is a great communicator with at least seven years of hospitality experience and a “customer obsession.”
The Blue Origin tourists will eventually ride on the New Shepard, the company’s fully reusable rocket that is designed to travel up to 62 miles (100 kilometers) high. Here, people can experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of the Earth. Passengers are meant to ride up in a capsule that sits on top of a rocket. Then, in space, the capsule and rocket separate and both eventually fall back to Earth. The rocket is meant to land upright using its engines, while the capsule gently lands its crew with parachutes.
Those who have the money to pay for a likely pricey ticket will be spending a good deal of time with Blue Origin. Customers need to get to the company’s West Texas site two days before their trip, and then they’ll spend the entire next day going through training. So the Astronaut Experience Manager will have a lot of experiences to manage.
The job perfectly illustrates how the commercial space industry departs from government space programs. While Blue Origin is focused on making its rides safe and comfortable, the company is also thinking a great deal about customer service. However, it will still be a while before people get to enjoy this type of space hospitality. Blue Origin says it’s hoping to send up its first customers sometime in 2019.
Blue Origin recently posted a job ad for an “Astronaut Experience Manager” on its website, a gig that’s unlike most you’ll find in the aerospace industry. Whoever is hired for the position will be less focused on the minutiae of engineering and more concentrated on creating a full, luxurious adventure for customers flying with the company.
“As the Astronaut Experience Manager you will work with a team that is creating a highly differentiated offering that culminates in the customer becoming an astronaut,” the description states. “In this role you will have direct impact on the history of space exploration, requiring your dedicated commitment and detailed attention towards safe and repeatable spaceflight.”
Based on the description, the employee will be responsible for creating the “astronaut hospitality program,” as well as coming up with the manifest and training content for customers. But above all, the manager will need to “develop a thorough understanding of astronaut needs and desires,” which will then be used to “help delight customers.” Blue Origin is looking for someone who is a great communicator with at least seven years of hospitality experience and a “customer obsession.”
The Blue Origin tourists will eventually ride on the New Shepard, the company’s fully reusable rocket that is designed to travel up to 62 miles (100 kilometers) high. Here, people can experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of the Earth. Passengers are meant to ride up in a capsule that sits on top of a rocket. Then, in space, the capsule and rocket separate and both eventually fall back to Earth. The rocket is meant to land upright using its engines, while the capsule gently lands its crew with parachutes.
Those who have the money to pay for a likely pricey ticket will be spending a good deal of time with Blue Origin. Customers need to get to the company’s West Texas site two days before their trip, and then they’ll spend the entire next day going through training. So the Astronaut Experience Manager will have a lot of experiences to manage.
The job perfectly illustrates how the commercial space industry departs from government space programs. While Blue Origin is focused on making its rides safe and comfortable, the company is also thinking a great deal about customer service. However, it will still be a while before people get to enjoy this type of space hospitality. Blue Origin says it’s hoping to send up its first customers sometime in 2019.