Star Trek Icon William Shatner To Rocket Into Space (For Real, This Time)

"I’ve heard about space for a long time now. I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself."

Star Trek’s Captain Kirk is rocketing into space this month – boldly going where no other sci-fi actors have gone before.

Jeff Bezos’ space travel company, Blue Origin, has announced that William Shatner will blast off from West Texas on 12 October.

At the age of 90, the star will become the oldest person in space.

He will join three others – two of them paying customers – aboard a Blue Origin capsule. It will be the company’s second launch with a crew.

Open Image Modal
William Shatner pictured in 2020
Daniel Boczarski via Getty Images

Bezos – the former CEO of Amazon – was on the debut flight in July, along with his brother and the youngest and oldest to ever fly in space.

Shatner will break that upper threshold by six years.

“I’ve heard about space for a long time now. I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle,” Shatner said.

The up-and-down space hop will last 10 minutes and reach no higher than about 66 miles.