Jeff Bezos will be one of the final recipients of the FAA's commercial astronaut wings. Photo / Getty
Jeff Bezos will be one of the final recipients of the FAA's commercial astronaut wings. Photo / Getty
Well, it's official, Jeff Bezos is an astronaut. Don't believe it? Ask America's federal government.
On Friday the Federal Aviation Administration announced it would retire its program that awards "Commercial Space Astronaut Wings" to people who fly to space on private spacecraft.
Before the programme ends in January, the agency said anyone who has already applied to receive the small gold pin after making it to space this year will receive one.
Meaning, billionaire Amazon founder Bezos will also be able to go by the title of a commercial astronaut after he rode a rocket into space this July with his space company, Blue Origin.
Other notable figures who can claim the golden wings are Richard Branson, who founded the space tourism firm Virgin Galactic and ventured to space in July, and Star Trek icon William Shatner, who made the trip with Blue Origin in October.
According to the federal agency's list, 12 other people will also receive the commercial astronaut wings.
The FAA will no longer hand out the coveted space wings. Photo / Federal Aviation Administration
The change in programme will allow the FAA to make a distinction that seems quite obvious from the outset; wealthy space tourists are not specialised astronauts.
Established by Patti Grace Smith, FAA's first chief of the commercial space office, as a way to encourage private innovation of human spaceflight.
It was not until 2004 that the program started awarding pins. Mike Melvill, a test pilot. Become the first recipient.
According to NASA and the US Air Force, space begins 50 miles (80 kilometres) from the earth. In order to qualify, a flier must reach this altitude and be a member of the 'flight crew' on board.
When interest in spaceflight surged this year, the FAA revised its criteria in July (just one day after Bezos made it into space), making it harder to gain the golden wings.
Now, crew members must have "demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety."
The change helped keep the program aligned "more directly to the FAA's role to protect public safety during commercial space operations."
With the rise in space tourism, wealthy individuals can skip the years of rigorous technical training required by NASA astronauts and buy their way into space.
After spending time in the outer galaxy, passengers can then be nominated for commercial astronaut wings. Blue Origin has nominated all passengers who have flown on their New Shepard flights.
However, the FAA had not responded to applications for the last few months and it was unclear whether Bezos had shown "activities during flight that were essential to public safety."
Jeff Bezos will be one of the final recipients of the FAA's commercial astronaut wings. Photo / Getty
On Friday, FAA brought clarity to the situation, reversed the changes made in July and announced they would award wings to all applicants who flew to space on a private spacecraft in 2021.
"Any individual who is on an FAA-licensed or permitted launch and reaches 50 statute miles above the surface of the Earth," read the agency's statement.
From next year, no one will receive the coveted gold pins. Instead, anyone who passes the 50-mile altitude in an FAA-licensed spacecraft will be named in the agency's digital database.
Although future space tourists need not feel disheartened at the lack of décor; SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin will provide passengers with their own custom wings.
