{"id":17541,"date":"2021-06-07T22:50:05","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T14:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/jeff-bezos-says-hell-ride-with-blue-origins-first-space-passengers-in-july\/"},"modified":"2021-06-07T22:50:05","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T14:50:05","slug":"jeff-bezos-says-hell-ride-with-blue-origins-first-space-passengers-in-july","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/jeff-bezos-says-hell-ride-with-blue-origins-first-space-passengers-in-july\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Bezos says he\u2019ll ride with Blue Origin\u2019s first space passengers in July"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_383087\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-383087\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-383087\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/150825-bezosblue2-630x354.jpg\" alt=\"Jeff Bezos\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/150825-bezosblue2-630x354.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/150825-bezosblue2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/150825-bezosblue2-1260x709.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/150825-bezosblue2.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-383087\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and one of his Blue Origin rockets. (Blue Origin Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says he and his brother Mark will fly to space next month on the first crewed flight of his space venture\u2019s suborbital spaceship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEver since I was five years old, I\u2019ve dreamed of traveling to space,\u201d Bezos wrote today in an Instagram post. \u201cOn July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The surprise announcement comes even as Blue Origin, the space company Bezos founded 21 years ago, is auctioning off one of the six seats on next month\u2019s flight. The high bid currently stands at $3.8 million, and the final price is due to be set at a live online bidding round on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Blue Origin says it\u2019s received bids from nearly 6,000 participants from 143 countries. The proceeds from the winning bid will be donated to Blue Origin\u2019s educational foundation, the Club for the Future.<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" id=\"instagram-embed-0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CP0MSOqnYEo\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=987&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com&amp;rp=%2F2021%2Fjeff-bezos-says-hell-ride-blue-origins-first-space-passengers-next-month%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A612.2750001959503%7D\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"695\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"background: white; max-width: 658px; width: calc(100% - 2px); border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219); box-shadow: none; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 12px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Blue Origin has conducted 15 uncrewed tests of its reusable New Shepard spaceship over the course of the past six years, but next month\u2019s up-and-down flight at the company\u2019s West Texas spaceport would be the first flight to carry people.<\/p>\n<p>The New Shepard spaceship is designed to fly itself autonomously. Travelers would be launched beyond the 100-kilometer (62-mile) mark that\u2019s considered the international boundary of outer space, spend a few minutes in weightlessness with a big-picture view of Earth below, and then float back down to the Texas rangeland in their parachute-equipped capsule.<\/p>\n<p>If all goes according to plan, Bezos would become the first spaceship owner to fly to space, whether we\u2019re talking 50 miles or 100 kilometers in altitude, on their own vehicle. Two other billionaires \u2014 Virgin Galactic\u2019s Richard Branson and SpaceX\u2019s Elon Musk \u2014 have talked about doing likewise. But this appears to be one space race Bezos has a chance of winning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a big deal for me,\u201d Bezos says in his Instagram video.<\/p>\n<p>The video purports to show Bezos asking his brother Mark to come with him to space, although it seems unlikely that America\u2019s richest individual would pop the question for the first time on camera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI really want you to come with me. Would you?\u201d Jeff Bezos says in the video.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you serious?\u201d Mark Bezos replies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am,\u201d Jeff Bezos says. \u201cI think it would be meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark Bezos, who resembles his more famous brother in his looks as well as his speaking style, is a co-founder of New York-based HighPost Capital and a member of the leadership council at the Robin Hood Foundation, which was co-founded by his mother and fights poverty in New York. He\u2019s also a volunteer firefighter with the Scarsdale (N.Y.) Fire Department. And judging by a 2011 TED talk, he\u2019s a pretty fair standup comedian as well. Jeff Bezos has called Mark \u201cthe funniest guy in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In Jeff\u2019s Instagram video, Mark says he didn\u2019t his billionaire brother to go to space on the first flight, and certainly didn\u2019t expect to be invited to come along. But during a Q&amp;A back in 2016, Jeff Bezos told me he fully expected to take a ride on his company\u2019s spaceship someday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll go up in New Shepard for the suborbital mission, then I\u2019ll go into space in our orbital vehicle as well at some point,\u201d he said at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. \u201cI want to go into space, but I want to do it in Blue Origin vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The fact that Bezos is stepping down from his post as Amazon\u2019s CEO on July 5 is probably a key factor freeing him up to take the risk. As the CEO of one of the world\u2019s biggest publicly traded companies, he would have been more constrained in his fiduciary responsibilities. Announcing plans to go on a spaceflight might well have had a significant effect on Amazon\u2019s share price.<\/p>\n<p>After leaving the CEO post, Bezos will still be the executive chairman of Amazon\u2019s board \u2014 but that apparently poses no major impediment to spaceflight. For what it\u2019s worth, Amazon\u2019s share price declined less than a percentage point in early trading today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Update for 1:50 p.m. PT June 8:<\/strong> Congratulatory tweets are streaming in from the likes of Richard Branson and \u201cYear in Space\u201d astronaut Scott Kelly \u2014 which makes me wonder whether Elon Musk will weigh in. Also, the high bid for the New Shepard seat that\u2019s being auctioned off rose $400,000 to $3.2 million just after the June 7 announcement, and then another $600,000 to $3.8 million today.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1401938252634984453&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2021%2Fjeff-bezos-says-hell-ride-blue-origins-first-space-passengers-next-month%2F&amp;sessionId=87f538603bf53f4a4aebb718b08b124ce1d772e6&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1401938252634984453\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782798738964476177=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Respect to the guy who flies the first flight of a rocket he built! https:\/\/t.co\/oNW9S5rle7<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) June 7, 2021<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1401905482613366791&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2021%2Fjeff-bezos-says-hell-ride-blue-origins-first-space-passengers-next-month%2F&amp;sessionId=87f538603bf53f4a4aebb718b08b124ce1d772e6&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1401905482613366791\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782798738964476177=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Many congratulations to @JeffBezos &amp; his brother Mark on announcing spaceflight plans. Jeff started building @blueorigin in 2000, we started building @virgingalactic in 2004 &amp; now both are opening up access to Space \u2013 how extraordinary! Watch this space\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Richard Branson (@richardbranson) June 7, 2021<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and one of his Blue Origin rockets. (Blue Origin Photo) Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says he and his brother Mark will fly to space next month on the first crewed flight of his space venture\u2019s suborbital spaceship. \u201cEver since I was five years old, I\u2019ve dreamed of traveling to space,\u201d Bezos [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[275,509,1046,4739,1250,493,4402],"class_list":["post-17541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amazon","tag-blue-origin","tag-jeff-bezos","tag-mark-bezos","tag-new-shepard","tag-space-tourism","tag-suborbital-spaceflight"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17541"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17541\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}