Jeff Bezos is anastrologer. Ask the federal government.
The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday that it was ending a program that gave small gold pins to people who flew to space on private spaceships.
The gold wings will still be given to all those who applied after flying to space this year. Mr. Bezos, the founder of Amazon, who rode a rocket with his space company, Blue Origin, to the edge of space in July, will be considered a commercial astronaut.
The founder of the space tourism firm Virgin Galactic flew his own company's rocket plane to space in the same month. William Shatner, the Star Trek star who flew with Blue Origin to the edge of space in October, will also receive astronaut wings to go with his Starfleet paraphernalia. The federal agency added 12 more people to its list of wing recipients on Friday.
The changes will help the F.A.A. avoid the awkwardness of proclaiming that space tourists are not astronauts.
The Commercial Space Astronaut Wings Program was created by the first chief of the F.A.A.'s commercial space office, to promote the private development of human spaceflight. The first pins to be given out were to Mike Melvill, a test pilot who flew the Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne plane.
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Jeff Bezos, the founder of Blue Origin, received a pair of astronaut wings from a former NASA pilot.
The original guidelines required a person to reach an altitude of at least 50 miles and be a member of the flight crew in order to be considered for the commercial astronaut wings.
The F.A.A. narrowed its criteria after Mr. Bezos launched to space. The updated version required crew members to have demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety or contributed to human space flight safety. The head of the agency's commercial space flight office was given the power to grant wings to people who had shown extraordinary contribution or beneficial service to the commercial human space flight industry.
The advent of space tourism and the F.A.A.'s new rules sparked a debate over who can be called anastrologer.
NASA picks its astronauts through an extensive selection process, and astronauts have years of safety and technical training before their first flights to space. Passengers and paying tourists can board Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket train for a few days, before they are sent to the edge of space and back in a fully automated mission that lasts roughly 10 minutes. A similar experience can be had on a space plane that launches off a carrier plane.
The F.A.A. could give commercial astronauts wings if companies nominated the private passengers on their rockets. Blue Origin had nominated the passengers aboard all of its New Shepard flights, but the company hadn't received a response for months. It was not clear if Mr. Bezos would meet the criteria for demonstrating activities that were essential to public safety.
The F.A.A. decided to give the wings to everyone who flew to space on private vessels this year after tossing out its criteria from July. The agency said that anyone who is on an F.A.A.-licensed or permitted launch can reach 50 statute miles above the surface of the Earth.
The first four private passengers who spent three days in space on the Crew Dragon were named wing recipients.
Private spaceflight passengers who fly to space before the year's end will be eligible. The Blue Origin flight will include Michael Strahan, the TV host and former Giants defensive end.
The agency will honor those who fly above 50 miles on an F.A.A.-licensed rocket after 2021.
Future space tourists should not be discouraged by a lack of flair. Guests and paying passengers have been presented with custom-designed wings.
