Jeff Bezos, Also Sir Richard Branson's Latest Not Yet Astronauts, Declares That United States.

A move that splashed the dreams of several billionaire space researchers with cold water. The United States has tightened the definition of the word "astronaut ."The new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules state that astronauts hope to be part of the flight crew and contribute to the safety of space travel.

This means that Jeff Bezos, also Sir Richard Branson is not yet an astronaut in the eyes of the US government. This is the first change since the FAA's wing program was launched in 2004. The update to the Commercial Astronaut Wings program was announced on Tuesday, the same day Amazon's Mr. Bezos flew to the edge of space on a Blue Origin rocket.

To qualify as a commercial astronaut, a space visitor must travel 80 miles (80 km) above the Earth's surface, which Bezos and Branson have already accomplished. But in addition to altitude, aspiring astronauts must also "demonstrate flight activities that are important to public safety or contribute to the safety of human-crewed spaceflight." What counts as such is determined by FAA officials.

In a statement, the FAA said these changes had improved the wing scheme in its role in protecting public safety during commercial space flights. On July 11, Sir Richard flew to the edge of space as a test run aboard Virgin Galactic's Space Galaxia SpaceShipTwo before taking on customers next year.

Mr. Bezos Also, the three other crew members who flew the starship Blue Origin may have had fewer claims to the title they wanted. Before the launch, Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith said there was "nothing the crew members could do" on the autonomous vehicle.

Those wishing to exchange wings must also be nominated. An FAA spokesman told CNN he was not currently reviewing any statements. There are two other ways to win the astronaut wing in the United States - through the military or NASA. The branches that Mr. Bezos and Sir Richard had after their flight were custom-made pins from their own company.

But a glimmer of hope remains for Sir Richard, Mr. Bezos, and all the future star warriors who hope to be recognized as astronauts. The new regulations state that honorary awards may be awarded on merit, at the discretion of the relevant FAA administrator. Astronaut wings were first given to astronaut Alan Shepard Jr. and Virgil Grissom in the early 1960s to participate in the Mercury Seven program.