Listen Now: Amateur Astronauts

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Seems everyone is going to space, but they can’t all be astronauts. I’m Brian Banmiller on CBS.

Jeff Bezos, William Shatner, paying customers, these days everyone with a big bank account is heading into orbit. There’s been so many space travelers that the federal aviation administration says it will no longer be awarding commercial astronaut wings. The program will not end until the first of the year so everyone who’s been up and is scheduled to go still gets their wings. But NASA astronauts have nothing to worry about. They will continue to get their pins from the agency. Earlier this year the FAA tightened its qualifications saying that in order to qualify for wings someone had to be trained crew members versus a paying customer. But now everyone, with the exception of NASA astronauts are out. Instead of wings, future space tourists will get their names put on an FAA commercial spaceflight list. To qualify they must go up at least fifty miles on an FAA sanctioned launch. Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are also handing out their own wings, in case going into space wasn’t enough. Brian Banmiller, CBS News.

About Brian

CBS News Radio national business journalist Brian Banmiller has spent more than 40 years in the news industry, covering business, politics and the economy on television, radio and in print. Currently, his “Banmiller on Business” reports are delivered to an audience of millions nationwide.