Blue Origin’s Bezos Reaches Space on 1st Passenger Flight

UPDATED: 8:39AM

AP Aerospace Writer VAN HORN, Texas (AP) – Jeff Bezos has blasted into space on his rocket company’s first flight with passengers. He’s the second billionaire in just over a week to ride his own spacecraft.

The Amazon founder soared to space with a hand-picked group in his Blue Origin capsule and landed 10 minutes later on the desert floor.

The passengers include Bezos’ younger brother, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands and an 82-year-old aviation pioneer from the Dallas area.

They’re the youngest and oldest to ever hurtle off the planet. Named after America’s first astronaut, the New Shepard rocket soared from West Texas on the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Scenes from #NSFirstHumanFlight astronaut load. pic.twitter.com/L7u1ZaYn60

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 20, 2021

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VAN HORN, Texas (AP) – Jeff Bezos is about to soar on his space travel company’s first flight with people on board.

The founder of Blue Origin as well as Amazon will become the second billionaire to ride his own rocket. He’ll blast off Tuesday morning from West Texas with his brother, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands and an 82-year-old female aviation pioneer from Texas.

They’ll become the youngest and oldest ever to fly in space.

Blue Origin’s capsule is fully automated, so there’s no need for trained staff on the brief space hop. Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson rocket plane needs two pilots to operate. Branson beat Bezos to space on July 11.

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For years, the official letterhead for the small town of Van Horn read simply: “Farming, ranching, mining.”

And while there is still some of that in this far West Texas community, there’s another booming business in its midst: space tourism.

Bezos’ sprawling spaceport of Blue Origin, the company is located about 25 miles outside of this town of about 1,800 residents. Located on what was once desolate desert ranchland, the company on Tuesday plans to launch four people into space from the compound, including Bezos.