Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos will join the first crewed flight by his space company, Blue Origin, along with his younger brother. The launch is scheduled for July 20.
Going to space was “a thing I've wanted to do all my life,” Bezos said in a short video on his Instagram account. “It's an adventure. It's a big deal for me.”
The clip features the moment when the billionaire asked his younger brother, Mark Bezos, to join the flight.
“Are you serious?” Mark Bezos, a volunteer firefighter and co-founder of the private equity firm HighPost Capital, asks.
“I am. I think it would be meaningful [to] have my brother there,” Jeff Bezos responds, while sporting a cowboy hat and sunglasses.
The launch of the New Shepard six-seater capsule will be Blue Origin’s first crewed flight. During its 11-minute journey the spacecraft is set to reach more than 60 miles (97km) above Earth.
One seat aboard the New Shepard will be auctioned online on June 12, with the proceeds going to Blue Origin's charity, the Club for the Future, which promotes research in STEM.
The world’s richest man, according to Forbes magazine, Bezos will step down as Amazon’s CEO on July 5, two weeks before the planned flight.
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