FAA Awards Astronaut Wings to Jeff Bezos and William Shatner

But at the end of the year, the Commercial Space Astronaut Wings program is ending.

Meg Scarbrough

Friday, December 10, 2021 at 07:06 PM ET

Verified

Actor William Shatner (left) discusses his space experience with Jeff Bezos. Screengrab from Blue Origin

Key Takeaways:

The FAA is awarding Commercial Space Astronaut Wings to 15 individuals for reaching space in 2021, including Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and William Shatner, plus two honorary recipients from a 2014 flight.
Notable record-breakers include Wally Funk, who became the oldest person in space at 82, a record later surpassed by William Shatner at 90.
The FAA announced it will end its Commercial Space Astronaut Wings program in 2022, instead recognizing future spaceflight participants on its website, as the program's original purpose of promoting the nascent commercial space industry has been fulfilled.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and William Shatner are earning “astronaut” wings for their recent flights that reached space.

The FAA on Friday said it will be awarding the honor to 15 people who reached the 50-mile mark above Earth in 2021, including honorary awards to two more who flew on a FAA-permitted experimental test flight in a space launch vehicle that broke up during flight in 2014. Those who qualify before the end of the year also will be eligible.