Space Center Houston was selected to receive a $1 million grant from Blue Origin’s Club for the Future.
“Our recent auction for the first seat on New Shepard resulted in a donation of $28 million to our nonprofit foundation, Club for the Future,” said Bob Smith, Blue Origin CEO. “This donation is enabling Club for the Future to rapidly expand its reach by partnering with 19 organizations to develop and inspire the next generation of space professionals. Our generation will build the road to space and these efforts will ensure the next generation is ready to go even further.”
On June 12, Blue Origin concluded the online auction for the very first seat on New Shepard with a winning bid of $28 million. Nearly 7,600 people registered to bid from 159 countries.
Each of the organizations selected have demonstrated a commitment to promote the future of living and working in space to inspire the next generation to explore space careers. They enhance Club for the Future’s ability to reach students, teachers, and communities, and to engage them in the excitement and adventure of innovation and space exploration.
“Blue Origin’s grant will further enable Space Center Houston to provide immersive science learning experiences for underserved Houston area youth,” said the center’s President and CEO, William T. Harris. “We are very thankful to Blue Origin for helping us inspire and prepare students for future STEM careers. With Blue Origin’s support, we can empower students with hands-on STEM learning opportunities through the wonders of space exploration.”
The grant will benefit Houston area youth through the center’s Title 1 school field trip program, enabling students with access to the center’s extensive space artifact collection, and Space Center Houston’s Girls STEM Pathway initiative, which engages girls with 21st-century skills to fuel their imaginations and provide authentic learning experiences in STEM careers.
The comprehensive, six-phase initiative includes an introductory elementary school experience, a middle school project-based STEM experience, a summer bridge program with mentoring support and a program for high school girls to engage in scientific research.
Blue Origin was founded by Jeff Bezos with the vision of enabling a future where millions of people are living and working in space to benefit Earth. To preserve Earth, Blue Origin believes that humanity will need to expand, explore, find new energy and material resources, and move industries that stress Earth into space. On July 20, Blue Origin will fly its first astronaut crew on board New Shepard to space and back. To watch the launch live on July 20 or sign up for updates visit BlueOrigin.com.
About New Shepard
Named after Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to go to space, New Shepard is our reusable suborbital rocket system designed to take astronauts and research payloads past the Kármán line – the internationally recognized boundary of space.
On July 20, Blue Origin will fly its 16th New Shepard flight to space, and its first with astronauts on board. The launch will be broadcast live on BlueOrigin.com beginning at 6:30 a.m. CDT / 11:30 UTC. Liftoff is currently targeted for 8 a.m. CDT / 13 UTC. Blue Origin’s Launch Site One is in a remote location in the West Texas desert and there are no on-site public viewing areas in the vicinity of the launch site.
Founded by Blue Origin in 2019, Club for the Future is a nonprofit foundation whose mission is to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and to help invent the future of life in space. The Club and its collaborators are doing this through Postcards to Space, space-focused curriculum, and access to space on Blue Origin’s rockets. For more information visit, ClubforFuture.org.
