Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, flew into space for an exhilarating 10-minute up-and-down flight, a ride that will pave the way for commercial passenger service later this year.
Blue Origin’s first passenger spaceflight was a success, with Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, Wally Funk, and Dutch teen Oliver Daemen aboard the company’s rocket.
“It’s the best day ever!” As soon as Bezos landed, he said.
Bezos and his fellow passengers boarded the rocket-powered New Shepard spaceship constructed by his business Blue Origin at 9:12 a.m. ET and were propelled to the edge of space from a remote West Texas site.
A few minutes after the reusable booster returned, the vessel’s crew capsule floated down under its three parachutes to a location in the desert, after two loud booms and blackening the landing area.
“It was so calm and serene, and the floating…
At a press conference following his flight, Mr. Bezos, said of weightlessness, “It’s a very pleasurable experience.”
After the New Shepard rocket carried their capsule beyond the stratosphere, the four-person crew unbuckled from their seats.
The capsule reached a maximum altitude of nearly 66 miles (approximately 106 kilometers) in the sky, known as the apogee.
The remarkable achievement came only 11 days after Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic spaceflight.
Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 and began purchasing land in Texas to construct the private launch complex.
The corporation employed individuals to work on rockets, engines, and spacecraft, and it today employs over 3,500 people in Florida, California, and other states.
In recent years, Mr. Bezos has stated that he has committed roughly $1 billion each year in Blue Origin.
Blue Origin said that ticket sales for future flights have begun, with Mr. Bezos estimating that sales are reaching $100 million, with two more crewed trips planned this year. It hasn’t provided any pricing information.
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