Jeff Bezos is joining the first crewed flight of Blue Origin’s rocket ship, New Shepard. Blue Origin is Bezos’ space company which he founded in 2000. The inaugural crewed flight is scheduled for July 20th, which will be the 52nd anniversary of the first lunar landing.
This is also 15 days after the multi-billionaire is set to resign as CEO of Amazon.
Bezos’ younger brother and BFF, Mark Bezos, will also be onboard the first flight.
“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space,” Bezos, 57, said on an Instagram post on Monday morning. “On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.”
Jeff Bezos to be the First Billionaire in Space
Bezos — the world’s richest person with a net worth of approximately $187 billion — has poured millions into developing the rocket technology. With his flight on July 20 he will beat fellow billionaires, Elon Musk and Richard Branson to space.
Musk’s SpaceX does currently have the technology to build rockets that can orbit the earth, though Musk himself has not announced any desire to join a crew on his human-transporting capsules.
Branson’s Virgin Galactic, however, will be ready to take its inaugural orbit later in 2021. Like Musk, Branson has announced he will be a part of the first crew on his rocket-powered plane.
Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic will eventually be in competition with each other when it comes to transporting the ultra-rich on joyrides to the final frontier.
New Shepard, a six seater capsule, has been in extensive testing for almost six years. The July 20 trip will see the rocket blast to the edge of space, 60 miles above the Earth.
Blue Origin has not announced what a regular space flight will cost, however, for the inaugural blast-off, the company is holding a month-long auction for one seat on the 11 minute flight. At writing the highest bid is just shy of $3 million.
I think I’ll put my paddle down and back away slowly…
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