Jeff Bezos made paper Star Trek toys when he was 9, and William Shatner is taking them into space

• William Shatner is due to launch into space on a Blue Origin rocket on Wednesday.
• Blue Origin boss Jeff Bezos said Shatner had agreed to take some mementos into space for him.

"Star Trek" actor William Shatner is due to blast into space on Wednesday onboard a rocket made by Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' space exploration company - and he'll have some special memorabilia with him.

Bezos said in an Instagram post on Tuesday that when he was nine years old, he made toy versions of the equipment used onboard the fictional Star Trek ship the Starship Enterprise, and that his mother had kept them for the past 48 years.

"She dug them up this past week, and @WilliamShatner has agreed to take them up into space for me tomorrow," Bezos said in his post.

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Shatner's flight is due to last roughly 11 minutes, taking the actor 62 miles above sea-level. He is due to be accompanied by three other civilian astronauts, with no pilot onboard. Bezos took a similar flight on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket in July.

At 90 years old, Shatner is due to become the oldest person to reach the boundary of space. The record is currently held by 82-year-old aviator Wally Funk, who was on Bezos' July flight.

Shatner revealed in an interview with CNN that Blue Origin astronauts were not allowed to sell the mementos they take into space.

Blue Origin has recently come under fire from current and former employees over its work culture and safety practices. In an open letter published late September, a group of current and former Blue Origin employees said they wouldn't feel safe riding onboard Blue Origin's rocket.

CBS News spoke with five anonymous signatories of the open letter, and two said they would not feel safe riding on a Blue Origin rocket.

In response to the open letter, a Blue Origin spokesperson told Insider: "We stand by our safety record and believe that New Shepard is the safest space vehicle ever designed or built."