The first ever manned launch of Blue Origin\’s New Shepard spacecraft proved a major success.
Hot on the heels of Richard Branson\’s Virgin Galactic flight to the edge of space last week, Jezz Bezos soared into the heavens aboard Blue Origin\’s New Shepard earlier today.
The flight, which in its entirety lasted just over ten minutes, saw Bezos – along with three others – spend a quick couple of minutes experiencing zero-gravity before parachuting back down to Earth.
Joining him was 82-year-old aviation pioneer Wally Funk (now the oldest person ever to fly in space), 18-year-old student Oliver Daemen from the Netherlands (now the youngest person ever to fly in space) and his own brother – Mark Bezos.
“It was the best day ever,” the billionaire said as he emerged from the capsule.
Blue Origin will be offering flights to paying passengers in the not-too-distant future, however it is currently unclear exactly how much a seat aboard New Shepard will cost.
Last month, a seat aboard today\’s flight had sold at auction for $28 million, however the winner reportedly pulled out due to a \’scheduling conflict\’ and Daemen flew instead.
Now with both Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic having successfully completed their inaugural flights, the space tourism sector is likely to get very busy over the coming years.
