The 1960s saw humanity reach out for the moon and stars. And now in the 21st century, we’re heading towards Space Travel.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has said he will fly to space with his brother on the first human flight launched by his space company, Blue Origin.
In an Instagram post, Mr Bezos said space flight was something he had wanted to do “all my life”.
Blue Origin is also auctioning off a seat in the capsule, for someone who will join the pair on the inaugural crewed flight.
The Amazon founder’s rocket company, Blue Origin, did not disclose the winner’s name following the live online auction. The identity will be revealed in a couple of weeks closer to the brief up-and-down flight from West Texas on July 20, the 52nd anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s moon landing.
Jeff Bezos is one of the world’s richest people.
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.
Blue Origin’s rocket is called New Shepard, and its reusable – the idea being that reusing rockets will lower the cost of going to space and make it more accessible. The pressurized capsule has space for six passengers.
This will be the first time a crew will be aboard the New Shepard, in a capsule attached to the rocket.
The flight is scheduled for July 20 — the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. Bezos gives up his CEO title on July 5, when he’ll pass the reins to Andy Jassy, who currently leads Amazon’s cloud computing division.