Space For Humanity Selected to Receive $1 million from Blue Origin's Club for the Future

Organization will use funds to fuel mission of expanding access to space for citizen astronauts from all walks of life

News provided by

Jul 14, 2021, 11:48 ET

DENVER, July 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Space For Humanity, the non-profit creating the planet's first Sponsored Citizen Astronaut Program to send citizens of diverse racial, economic and disciplinary backgrounds into space, was selected to receive a $1 million grant from Blue Origin's Club for the Future.

Space For Humanity, the non-profit creating the planet’s first Sponsored Citizen Astronaut Program to send citizens of diverse racial, economic and disciplinary backgrounds into space, was selected to receive a $1 million grant from Blue Origin’s Club for the Future.

This generous grant will allow Space For Humanity to continue delivering on the organization's mission of expanding access to space for all of humanity through their citizen spaceflight program, leadership training, and collaborative efforts to educate the public on the transformative potential of space travel.

"Our recent auction for the first seat on New Shepard resulted in a donation of $28 million to our non-profit 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."

"We believe that space is the future and that it's imperative that more people from diverse backgrounds get the opportunity to experience the transformational shift that visiting space offers," said Rachel Lyons, Executive Director of Space for Humanity. "It's an incredibly exciting time for space tourism, and we are eager to seed the planet with more leaders who have had the opportunity to visit space and use that new perspective to create change here on Earth. Thank you Blue Origin for your generous contribution and support of our mission."

Space For Humanity's mission is deeply rooted in the principles of the "Overview Effect," which is the experience astronauts are presented with when viewing the Earth from orbit, offering an expanded opportunity to see the profound beauty, wholeness, and interconnectedness of our home planet. By sponsoring a group of exceptional leaders to join the world's first Citizen Astronaut Program, Space For Humanity is conducting research to support the Overview Effect's emergence as a viable strategy for positive social, economic, political and environmental impact on Earth.

To apply to the planet's first Sponsored Citizen Astronaut Program, visit www.spaceforhumanity.org/apply.

About Space for Humanity
Space for Humanity is expanding access to space for all of humanity. We are organizing the planet's first Sponsored Citizen Astronaut Program, where leaders, from any walk of life, can apply for an opportunity to go to space and experience the Overview Effect: the cognitive shift in awareness that occurs when a human being looks down on the Earth from space.

Through our citizen spaceflight program, leadership training, and collaborative efforts to educate the public, we are setting the stage to create the world we want, both here on Earth and throughout the cosmos. We are ranked in the top 100 non-profits globally, in terms of online engagement. For more information, please visit www.spaceforhumanity.org.

About Club for the Future
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

About Blue Origin
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.

SOURCE Space for Humanity