Bezos brothers to make 1st flight on Blue Origin
June 8, 2021
By Chris Forrester
The Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin rocket system is due to make its first flight carrying humans on July 20th.
Bezos and his brother Mark will be on the flight along with the winner of the recent auction for a seat on the New Shepard version of the rocket.
“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space,” Bezos said in an Instagram post. “On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.”
The auction bidding has already reached $2.8 million – as at June 7th – and almost 6000 people from 143 countries have entered the live auction. And bids are still being accepted until June 12th. Bidding opened on May 5th and Bezos says the cash raised will be donated to Blue Origin’s charitable foundation ‘Club For The Future’.
Blue Origin’s very first crewed flight will see the company’s six-person capsule and 59-foot rocket hurtle toward the edge of space on a 11-minute flight that’ll reach more than 60 miles above Earth.
Blue Origin has carried out 15 successful test flights.