By Joseph Chalfant
Jeff Bezos led an all-civilian crew to the edge of space in the inaugural passenger flight of Blue Origin on Tuesday.
The Amazon billionaire boarded New Shepard, named after the first American astronaut Alan Shepard, with his brother Mark Bezos, “Mercury 13” woman and test pilot Wally Funk, and Blue Origin’s first customer Oliver Daemen.
The flight took off outside of El Paso, Texas, at 8:11 A.M. local time and lasted just over 10 minutes. When the rocket reached 250,000 feet, the capsule detached and carried another 100,000 feet, reaching a total altitude over 65 miles, according to NBC News.
The passengers experienced around four minutes of microgravity before beginning their descent back to Earth. From there, parachutes carried the capsule safely back to the Texas ground.
Aside from breaking new ground for the company, the flight made multiple records. Funk, 82, is now the oldest person to enter space. At just 18, Daemen has become the youngest person to do the same.
Blue Origin and Jeff Bezos were beaten out in the billionaire space tourism race by Virgin Galactic’s July 11 flight. Richard Branson took off in a rocket plane strapped to the bottom of a jet airplane. His flight began at 46,000 feet and took him 53 miles above the Earth, according to Reuters.
Prices for private space flights are either a mystery or are still sky-high. Virgin Galactic has reportedly sold 600 tickets for around $250,000 apiece, according to Reuters. Blue Origin has not yet released any ticket prices, but Bezos claimed that the company is nearing $100 million in sales, according to NBC News.
The flight of New Shepard marks the next step in Blue Origin’s plan to expand. The company describes itself as “enabling a future where millions of people are living and working in space to benefit Earth.”
The company’s vision could create serious competition for the long-term success of Elon Musk’s private space venture SpaceX.
“Blue Origin is working on this today by developing partially and fully reusable launch vehicles that are safe, low cost, and serve the needs of all civil, commercial, and defense customers,” the company said.
