Billionaire Jeff Bezos successfully made it to space in his first-ever launch of New Shepard‘s rocket ship.
What We Know:
- Bezos, along with his brother Mark, 82-year-old space race pioneer Wally Funk, and 18-year-old student Oliver Daemen launched into space on Tuesday. Daeman is considered the first paying customer, as his wealthy father purchased his ticket. The four-person crew took a rocket ship that was owned by Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin. The rocket had a smooth takeoff, made it to about 60 miles above Earth, experienced 3 to 4-minutes of weightlessness, and safely landed back on Earth. The flight lasted a little over 10 minutes.
- Blue Origin is meant to be used for “space tourism” and is a part of the “billionaire space race” that is happening between various billionaires. Bezos and other billionaires plan on capitalizing on the space market and make it like a “Disney park ride” for the rich.
- Richard Branson, billionaire and founder of Virgin Galactic, was the first billionaire to launch into space, as his crew took flight nine days prior to Bezos’. Branson’s launch has been called into question since he didn’t reach the Kármán line- the international boundary of space. Many believe he did not reach space, as his spacecraft only reached a little over 50 miles above Earth and the Kármán line is 60. According to CNN, America states that “demarcation altitude” is above 50, and therefore Branson is the “first billionaire” in space.
- Bezos believes the future is space and his environmental vision revolves around it. He stated that “we need to take all heavy industry, all polluting industry and move it into space, and keep Earth as this beautiful gem of a planet that it is.” The Amazon founder and former owner believe that his sub-orbital tourism mission will allow the country to achieve a world where people can eat, sleep, and work in space in order to clean Earth.
- Some have criticized Bezos launched, as well as his comments made post-launch. In his post-interview, Bezos thanked Amazon employees and consumers for funding the $5.5 billion space launch. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) tweeted that Bezos needs to thank American workers who “actually paid taxes” and brought up the country’s need for a “wealth tax,” as Amazon pays nothing in taxes. Stars and Stripes journalist David Choi retweeted the post-interview video and stated his response to the billionaire.
i’d like a refund. https://t.co/mBPczAmpPm
— David Choi (@choibboy) July 20, 2021
Bezos has already sold close to $100 million worth of tickets for future Blue Origin launches, despite not releasing the prices for seats yet. Those interested in taking a trip to space are asked to email the company as demand is high. There will be at least two more human flights conducted by Blue Origin before the end of the year.
