You Can Watch William Shatner’s Blast Into Space And It’s Free

You will be able to watch the William Shatner, Blue Origin flight into space totally for free when it happens this Wednesday morning.

By Doug Norrie | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

william shatner

William Shatner is set to boldly go where a bunch of men and women have gone before, so that part in and of itself isn’t the most exciting thing. But what is very cool is that the former Captain Kirk will soon be the oldest man to ever be shot into space. It’s a stunning feat for a guy who will seemingly bring his own entertainment career full circle in a way no one has really ever done before. And now, as we get closer to the actual event, know that you will be able to see the William Shatner space launch totally free online, a chance to see Star Trek really in action for the iconic actor. 

William Shatner is set to launch into space on Wednesday, October 13th with the Blue Origin NS-18 rocket. Shatner will be part of a small group, four in all, who will make their way up into the cosmos. At 90-years-old, Shatner will be the oldest person ever to accomplish the feat. In this new space race, with tech companies and billionaires all competing to do “firsts” along the way, chucking Shatner up into orbit is the kind of press grab we can get behind. 

The Blue Origin YouTube Channel will have the William Shatner launch for free starting Wednesday morning with the actual liftoff going down right around 9:30 AM EST. The leadup will start about 90 minutes before around 8:00 AM. There will likely be some fanfare around the event on the channel, though for the most part, it will be the technical bibs and bobs (understatement) that go into putting a massive rocket up into space. 

William Shatner had recently joked about how “terrified” he was at the prospect of going into space. At New York Comic Con, the acting legend said to a group of fans, “I’m going into space. I’m scared. I’m going where no man…” and playing to the crowd he cut off the last sentence, an homage to his role for all those years as Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise. 

This William Shatner flight is the second launch for the Blue Origin program, Jeff Bezos’s company focused on making space travel accessible in a way we haven’t seen before. Back on July 20th, Bezos along with three other crew members (one his brother) went up in the NS-17 rocket for a successful launch. There was some billionaire sniping between Bezos and space competitor Elon Musk about whether he actually went high enough. But this is just slicing things a little too thin I think. They went to space. William Shatner and his group will be the second go-around for Blue Origin in launching humans up into orbit. 

We are entering a new day and age, a science fiction-type future in which folks who would usually be in nursing homes are now able to make the leap into the beyond. Such is the case with William Shatner who only appears to be getting younger and more energetic in his advanced age. If it isn’t going up into space, it’s swimming in the depth of the ocean with sharks. This guy just defies all expectations about what should happen when we get old. And he is now taking his Captain Kirk character to his logical end. Make sure to check out the Blue Origin launch this Wednesday. 

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