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Jeff Bezos is all set for his maiden space voyage on the New Shepard, a spacecraft made by his company, Blue Origin. The journey is set for July 20 that will be two weeks after he steps down as Amazon CEO.
“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space,” the richest man on earth posted to his Instagram on Monday. “On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.”
According to Variety, the New Shepard is a six-seater rocket. The crewed flight will hurtle towards space in an 11-minute journey that will touch a point 60 miles above Earth, the planet on which Bezos is the richest man with a net worth of $187 billion.
Richard Branson and Tesla boss Elon Musk also have space flight plans.
There are almost 6,000 participants from 143 countries, those who are bidding for the first seat on the New Shepard, with the current highest bid being $2.8 million.
The winner will accompany Bezos on the voyage. The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, whose mission is to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and to help invent the future of life in space.
According to BBC, the New Shepard booster can land vertically on the ground after returning from space. It is named after Alan Shepard, the second person and first US citizen to fly into space.
According to Blue Origin's website the company plans to launch its passengers more than 100km above the Earth's surface, allowing them to experience microgravity. The six-berth capsule will return to Earth under parachutes.
