Jeff Bezos, one of the world's richest men and founder of Amazon, has stated that he is going to fly into space with his brother. The space flight will be undertaken by his own space company 'Blue Origin'.
The announcement means that Bezos will be one of the few civilians to ever fly into space and heralds a new era of multi-billionaires funding space exploration. Tesla founder, Elon Musk, who was briefly richer than Bezos last year, has for a number of years also been financing space exploration through his own company SpaceX.
The flight, which is estimated to take place in July, will also be open to another passenger, who can bid for the seat. In an Instagram post a few days ago, Bezos announced the auction saying:
"On July 20th, #NewShepard will fly its first astronaut crew to space. We are offering one seat on this first flight to the winning bidder of @BlueOrigin's online auction. Starting today, anyone can place an opening bid by going to BlueOrigin.com (link in bio). The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin's foundation, @ClubforFuture, to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and help invent the future of life in space. This seat will change how you see the world. #GradatimFerociter."
A post shared by Jeff Bezos (@jeffbezos)
Bids for the seat have already reached almost $3 million.
Bezos then announced the flight with his brother, again on Instagram, saying:
"On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend."
The post was accompanied by a video:
A post shared by Jeff Bezos (@jeffbezos)
The Blue origin vehicle can take off and land vertically on the ground using parachutes. During the flight, the team will fly almost 100kms above the Earth's surface.
[h/t: BBC]
COMMENTS