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Agence France-Presse

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced on Monday he will fly into space next month on the first human flight launched by his Blue Origin rocket firm.
“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of travelling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother,” Bezos said on his Instagram account.
Blue Origin said Bezos and his brother Mark will travel on the first crewed flight of the company’s New Shepard capsule.
The company is auctioning off the third spot, and that bidding is already at US$2.8 million with nearly 6,000 participants from 143 countries.
Bezos’ Blue Origin targets July launch for first space tourism flight
The trip will last a total of 10 minutes, four of which passengers will spend above the Karman line that marks the recognised boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space.
After lift-off, the capsule separates from its booster, then spends four minutes at an altitude exceeding 60 miles (100km), during which time those on board experience weightlessness and can observe the curvature of Earth from space.
The booster lands autonomously on a pad two miles from the launch site, and the capsule floats back to the surface with three large parachutes that slow it down to about a mile an hour when it lands.
New Shepard has successfully carried out more than a dozen uncrewed test runs launching from its facility in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas.
The reusable suborbital rocket system was named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space 60 years ago.
The proceeds from the auction will go to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, which aims to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM. After the auction for the first flight, Blue Origin will offer places for sale.
Billionaires in space: who’s winning out of Musk, Bezos and Branson?
The automated capsules with no pilot have six seats with horizontal backrests, placed next to large portholes, in a futuristic cabin with swish lighting.
Multiple cameras help immortalise the few minutes the tourists experience weightlessness while taking in the Earth’s curvature.
Blue Origin has not yet published its prices but its clientele is expected to mainly be wealthy individuals.

Virgin Galactic, the company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, is also developing a spacecraft capable of sending clients on suborbital flights. Some 600 people have booked flights, costing US$200,000 to US$250,000.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is planning orbital flights that would cost millions of dollars and send people much further into space.
Virgin Galactic moves one step closer to commercial space flights
Bezos announced earlier this year that he is stepping down as chief executive of Amazon to spend more time on other projects including Blue Origin.
He has a very public rivalry with Musk, whose Space X has already begun to carry astronauts to the International Space Station and is a competitor for government space contacts.


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Space

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to go to space on first Blue Origin flight

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos inspects New Shepard’s West Texas launch facility before the rocket’s maiden voyage in West Texas, US. Photo: EPA-EFE

(FILES) In this file undated handout photograph obtained May 19, 2021, courtesy of Blue Origin, shows the interior of the Blue Origin Crew Capsule. - Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced June 7, 2021, that he will fly into space next month on the first human flight launched by his Blue Origin rocket firm. "Ever since I was five years old, I've dreamed of traveling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother," Bezos said on his Instagram account. (Photo by Handout / BLUE ORIGIN / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO /BLUE ORIGIN/HANDOUT " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to step down as CEO

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks at a convention in Las Vegas in June 2019. Photo: AP

(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 09, 2019, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announces Blue Moon, a lunar landing vehicle for the Moon, during a Blue Origin event in Washington, DC. - Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said on February 2, 2021, he would give up his role as chief executive of the tech and e-commerce giant this year as the company reported a surge in profit and revenue in the holiday quarter. The company said Andy Jassy, who heads Amazon Web Services, would take over as CEO in the third quarter. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

Billionaire Jeff Bezos says his Blue Origin space company will take first woman to the moon’s surface

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos said Blue Origin will take the first woman to the surface of the Moon. Photo: Reuters

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are in a two-man space race – who will win?

The modern space race: Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are engaged in an extraterrestrial rivalry. Illustration: Mario Riviera

Amazon.com CEO and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, left, debuts a launch vehicle on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015, as Florida Gov. Rick Scott applauds during a press conference at launch complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Bezos said his company would bring over 300 new jobs to Florida's space coast. (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

Lydia Wilson plays Kalara and Jeff Bezos plays Starfleet Official in ÒStar Trek Beyond.Ó CREDIT: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 9:  Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, Blue Origin and owner of The Washington Post via Getty Images,  introduces their newly developed lunar lander "Blue Moon" and gives an update on Blue Origin and the  progress and vision of going to space to benefit Earth at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.(Photo by Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post via Getty Images)CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL - JAN 6: In this handout provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), SpaceX successfully launches the THAICOM 6 satellite, marking the second successful Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) flight for the upgraded Falcon 9 launch vehicle, on January 6, 2014 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

EL SEGUNDO, LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 19:   Elon Musk, multi millionaire, rocket scientist, Tesla and Space X founder  and the man who inspired Tony Stark's character in Jon Favreau's "Iron Man" stands beside a rocket March 19, 2004 in El Segundo, Los Angeles, California (Photo Paul Harris/Getty Images)fCREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to build Nasa’s new moon lander

An illustration released by Nasa depicts astronauts on the moon’s surface. Image: Nasa via AP

(FILES) In this file photo Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announces Blue Moon, a lunar landing vehicle for the Moon, during a Blue Origin event in Washington, DC, May 9, 2019. - NASA on April 30, 2020 awarded almost $1 billion in contracts to three space companies including those owned by Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos to develop lunar landers as the United States seeks to return human beings to the Moon. The human landing system contracts were given to Musk's SpaceX, Bezos' Blue Origin and Dynetics, who receive $967 million. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

How Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ style has evolved, from nerdy geek to trim and chic 

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos had a makeover of sorts in the early aughts, when he started to focus on his physical appearance and personal style. Photo: AP/AFP

Bezos during his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on December 29, 1999. Photo: Reuters

Bezos in New York in 2002. Photo: AP

Bezos with then wife MacKenzie at the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, in 2013. Photo: Reuters

Bezos at the Blue Origin launch facility in Texas in 2015. Photo: AFP

(From left) Matt Damon, Taika Waititi, Bezos and Chris Hemsworth at the Amazon Studios’ Golden Globes Celebration in Los Angeles in 2018. Photo: Getty Images

Bezos at the Amazon re: MARS convention in June 2019 in Las Vegas. Photo: AP

Bezos with girlfriend Lauren Sanchez – and those trunks – in 2019. Photo: Twitter

Bezos and Sanchez during an event in Mumbai in January 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

Bezos next to Anna Wintour (second right) at a Tom Ford fashion show in February 2020. Photo: Getty Images

News

World

United States & Canada


Blue Origin said Bezos and his brother Mark will travel on next month’s first crewed flight of the rocket company’s New Shepard capsule
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Elon Musk’s SpaceX are also planning space flights



Blue Origin said Bezos and his brother Mark will travel on next month’s first crewed flight of the rocket company’s New Shepard capsule.


Jeff Bezos

United States