Business

Jeff Bezos just went to space, and you can too

New Shepard First Human Flight
Jeff Bezos and Wally Funk after a flight to space aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard on July 20.

  • Jeff Bezos and three others flew to space Tuesday in his company, Blue Origin’s, first human flight.
  • And you can go to space too – the company said Tuesday that it is “open for ticket sales.”
  • Blue Origin’s first paying customer was Oliver Daemen, one of four astronauts on Tuesday’s flight.
  • See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Jeff Bezos, the richest person on the planet, just went to space – and you can too, according to the company.

The hosts of the live-streamed space flight said that ticket sales are finally open to the public. They instructed those who are interested to email astronauts@blueorigin.com.

“We can’t wait to fly you to space and back,” Ariane Cornell, Blue Origin’s director of sales, said on the live stream. She said the company has two more flights planned for this year.

Blue Origin has yet to disclose seat prices for commercial flights, and the company did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Tuesday’s flight was one giant step toward the future of commercial space travel and followed Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson’s flight to the edge of space on July 11. The company is currently planning on flying customers starting next year.

Three others joined the billionaire Amazon founder in his 11-minute rocket ride.

One of them was 18-year-old Olivier Daemen, Blue Origin’s first paying customer, won his spot on the flight after the initial winner – who paid $28 million for the ticket – canceled due to “scheduling conflicts.” Daemen’s father, who works at a hedge fund, paid millions at an auction to secure the ticket.

The other two astronauts were Bezos’ brother, Mark, and 82-year-old aviator Wally Funk, who trained as an astronaut in the 1960s and was ultimately denied the chance to go to space. She went on to become the first female Federal Aviation Administration inspector.

Funk set a record as the oldest person to go to space.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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