Pete Davidson drops out of Blue Origin space flight

Comedian Pete Davidson has dropped out of his cosmic voyage on Jeff Bezos’ rocket.

Blue Origin announced that the Saturday Night Live comic was no longer able to take part in shuttle’s 20th flight, after the date was postponed.

The flight, which was previously scheduled for March 23, will now take place on March 29 and a replacement sixth crew member needs to be found.

Previous famous guests on the high-profile space trips include Star Trek actor William Shatner and former American football player and TV personality Michael Strahan.

Blue Origin's 20th flight of New Shepard has shifted to Tuesday, March 29. Pete Davidson is no longer able to join the NS-20 crew on this mission. We will announce the sixth crew member in the coming days.

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) March 18, 2022

“Blue Origin’s 20th flight of New Shepard has shifted to Tuesday, March 29, the company tweeted.

“Pete Davidson is no longer able to join the NS-20 crew on this mission.

“We will announce the sixth crew member in the coming days.”

Remaining Blue Origin passengers include the president and chief executive of Tricor International, a property development corporation, and a “world explorer” who has visited all 193 UN-recognised countries.

The flight will be the 20th for Blue Origin’s New Shepard programme and the fourth to feature a human crew.

Blue Origin is one of a number of companies involved in the space tourism boom.

Richard Branson launched into space on one of his Virgin Atlantic rocketships in July and, in September, Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its first private flight.