Jeff Bezos will fly on the first passenger flight of his space company Blue Origin, which the company plans to launch on July 20, the billionaire announced on Monday.
“I want to do this flight because that’s what I’ve wanted to do all my life,” said Bezos in a video posted on his Instagram.
Bezos’ brother Mark will join him, as will the winner of an auction for one of the seats. The highest bid was $ 2.8 million on Monday morning, five days before the auction ended.
“I didn’t even expect him to say he would be on the first flight,” said Mark Bezos in the video. “What a remarkable opportunity not only to experience this adventure but to do it with my best friend.”
Jeff Bezos takes a look at the New Shepard rocket booster on the landing pad after a successful NS-15 flight and landing in April 2021.
Blue origin
Blue Origin’s New Shepard space tourism system, a rocket that sends a capsule to the edge of space, has flown more than a dozen successful test flights with no passengers on board, including one in April at the company’s facility in the Texas desert.
New Shepard is said to carry up to six people on a ride on the edge of space, with the capsules reaching an altitude of more than 340,000 feet (more than 100 kilometers) on previous test flights. The capsule has massive windows that give passengers a view and spend a few minutes in weightlessness before returning to Earth.
Jeff Bezos opens the hatch of the New Shepard capsule after a test flight in April 2021.
Blue origin
The rocket launches vertically, with the booster disengaging and landing on a nearby concrete platform. The capsule’s return is slowed by a series of parachutes before gently landing in the desert.
“Seeing the earth from space changes you,” said the CEO of Amazon. “It’s an adventure, it’s a big deal to me.”
Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 and continues to own and fund the company through the sale of his Amazon shares.
July 20th marks the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
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