Savoyard, brewery owner, experienced skier… who is Sylvain Chiron, the Frenchman who will go into space with Jeff Bezos ?

Sa participation au vol de Blue Origin avait été annoncée au début du mois d’avril. MAXPPP – Sylvain Muscio

The Frenchman from Savoie will take off on May 19, 2024 from the United States, aboard a Blue Origin rocket, belonging to American entrepreneur Jeff Bezos.

At 51, he will be the twelfth Frenchman to fly into space for a brief trip with billionaire Jeff Bezos and his company Blue Origin. Brief trip because the duration will not exceed barely ten minutes.

"Privileged" and "excited"

Born in the Alps and based in Savoie, Sylvain Chiron is passionate about aviation and skiing. He obtained his pilot's license at the age of 16, according to Blue Origin.

Sylvain Chiron served as a monitor for the French army and NATO pilots. After studying business in the United States and Japan, the son of the founders of the pasta brand Alpina Savoie, founded the Brasserie du Mont-Blanc in 1999.

Its participation in the Blue Origin flight was announced at the beginning of April, but the takeoff date of this mission, named NS-25, was confirmed this Tuesday 14  may. The shooting window will open this Sunday at 8:30 a.m. local (1:30 p.m. GMT).

This is a ’childhood dream that I never imagined I would achieve", wrote Sylvain Chiron in a message published on Facebook at the beginning of April, adding that he felt "privileged" and "excited" with the idea of ​​becoming the 12th Frenchman to make the trip.

Ticket price is not known

The Savoyard will board the rocket in the company of five other people, including Ed Dwight, born in 1933, and who had been tipped to become the first African-American to go into space, but ultimately never had the opportunity.

Ten French astronauts went into space. In 2023, the Franco-Italian Ketty Maisonrouge flew with a company competing with Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic.

The company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos has already taken 31 people above the Karman line, which marks the boundary of space at an altitude of 100 km according to international convention . Many are wealthy customers, although the ticket price is not known

Jeff Bezos himself participated in the first manned flight of the New Shepard rocket in July 2021. Since then, the machine has also transported the actor playing the iconic Captain Kirk from the Star Trek series, William Shatner, then 90 years old.

A crash in September 2022

For the Amazon boss's company, this will be the first crewed flight of its New Shepard rocket since August 2022.

In September of the same year, an uncrewed flight ended in the crash of the rocket's propulsion stage. The automatic capsule ejection system – where the passengers are during a manned flight –, was triggered and it fell to the ground, slowed down by its parachutes.

Blue Origin's space tourism flights only last about ten minutes but allow passengers to admire the curvature of the Earth and briefly float in the capsule.< /p>

After an investigation by the American aviation regulator (FAA), Blue Origin made modifications and carried out a new uncrewed flight in December 2023.