Blue Origin is set to launch its 15th test flight of its New Shepard rocket that’s designed for space tourism flights, and its first passengers will be doing everything but actually flying on this trip.

The company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos is calling the NS-15 mission, set to launch at 11:15 a.m. EDT Wednesday from Blue Origin’s West Texas test site, an astronaut dress rehearsal.

Launch coverage will begin on BlueOrigin.com and streamed on their YouTube channel (video embedded below) beginning at 10:15 a.m. EDT Wednesday.

This flight will include humans testing out the seats right up to before the time to launch, and also climbing on board after it lands to test out how to exit the craft.

“NS-15 is a verification step for the vehicle and operations prior to flying astronauts,” reads a post on the company’s website.

Company personnel will stand in as astronauts entering the crew space before launch including climbing the launch tower and buckling up in their harnesses to conduct a communications check. The personnel will even be shut into the capsule as the operations team closes the hatch, but will then exit the rocket before launch. Also, once the capsule returns to Earth in its parachute-assisted landing, Blue Origin personnel will climb back inside the capsule to rehearse a hatch opening and exit from the landing site.

For the actual flight, the company will still use its human surrogate, named Mannequin Skywalker, with a launch target of hitting the 100 km altitude that marks the Karman line, which is the altitude that is internationally recognized as having made it into space.

And once again, the company will fly thousands of postcards created by students as part of Blue Origin’s nonprofit Club for the Future, which looks to inspire youth into STEM careers.

The company had originally indicated it wanted to begin tourist flights into space in 2019, but has not begun to sell tickets nor set prices for prospective flyers yet, and then the COVID-19 pandemic put many plans on hold. Its last test flight was in January 2021.

When tourist flights do begin, the New Shepard capsule will take up to six humans into suborbital space on an 11-minute flight from launch to landing. The rides will allow passengers to unbuckle and experience weightlessness for a few minutes before strapping back into their reclining seats for the trip back to Earth.

With safety in mind, the capsule has an escape motor that is designed to propel the passengers away from the booster rocket, which like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 boosters, will be reusable.

While cost has yet to be set, media reports have suggested it will be close to the $250,000 price tag per passenger that’s been set by competing space tourism company Virgin Galactic.

Both Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin’s space tourism plans will let passengers see the curvature of the Earth on the short flights, and the companies then plan for quick turnaround to launch the next set of paying customers.

Blue Origin is also pursuing a larger rocket, the New Glenn, being built at its facility in Cape Canaveral and will be launched from the Space Coast.