Jeff Bezos Cleared To Fly Aboard Blue Origin’s First-Ever Commercial Spaceflight
The billionaire space race continues.
Another billionaire will soon embark on a cosmic voyage. The Federal Aviation Authority has cleared Blue Origin for its inaugural human spaceflight on July 20, with founder Jeff Bezos on board.
The voyage is set to take Bezos, his brother Mark, 82-year-old space pioneer Wally Funk and three other passengers just past the edge of space, also known as the Kármán line, Engadget reports.
Richard Branson recently became the first billionaire to travel to space aboard Virgin Galactic’s successful first fully-manned flight, while Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, is also set to launch his first orbital spaceflight at some point this year.
As competition between the companies intensifies, so has the rivalry. Blue Origin recently claimed that Branson’s Virgin Galactic voyage didn’t actually go to space, implying that its spaceflight option is superior. And reports have emerged that Musk has booked a flight with Virgin Galactic for some point in the future, possibly to scope out the competition.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard is set to launch its 16th flight to space on July 20, the first with astronauts on board. The launch will be broadcast on BlueOrigin.com, with liftoff scheduled for 8:00 a.m. CDT.
In related news, check out more details about Bezos’ and Branson’s argument about where space starts.
