Jeff Bezos Is Going To Space Next Month
Jeff Bezos is stepping down as CEO of Amazon and launching himself into space. He'll be part of Blue Origin's first manned crew
This article is more than 2 years old
Jeff Bezos has created a world-dominating tech company that controls a not-insignificant part of our economy. But he’s not just set to take over the world’s supply lines and entertainment, among other things. He’s also got his eyes set on space as well. And it looks like Bezos will be heading there sooner than later. The Associated Press is reporting the billionaire is launching into space next month as part of his company, Blue Origin’s first launch off this tiny orb and out into the infinite beyond.
The launch that will send Jeff Bezos out of the atmosphere is through his aerospace company and this is their first crew going up into space in the New Shephard capsule. Bezos is putting his body where his money and mouth are with this trip, going up with the maiden voyage. It’s a bold step and definitely a seminal moment in the relative arms race to win the new space frontier. Eat your heart out Elon Musk, Bezos is about to streak past you in the space race from this respect.
Jeff Bezos will be part of a six-man crew in the ship which will launch on July 15th. And he’ll have some family with him. Bezos has invited his brother Mark along for the flight as well. The other members of the crew have already been determined, but there is one seat left right now. That’s being auctioned off to the highest bidder. It’s open to anyone who wants to pony up, but you are going to need to crack open the piggy bank for this one. Right now, the current bid is up to $2.8 million dollars on their website. That process is open until June 10th and then on the 12th, there will be a live bid auction to award the final seat.
Blue Origin is a space company founded by Jeff Bezos which has been working on space operations and manned flights for the last six years. Not a ton is known about their operations so far except that they have run 15 unmanned crews up to space and back already. This one will be the first to have folks along for the ride and I suppose it’s only fitting that Bezos be part of that first group. The plan is for it to launch, move into orbit and then come back down to Earth via parachutes.
When he’s launched into space, it will be not long after Jeff Bezos officially steps down as CEO of Amazon. He’ll stay on as Executive Chairman of the company he founded, but the move will free him up to spend more time with Blue Origin in particular as they work towards bringing commercial space flights into the mainstream. It will be a major vote of confidence, one would think, that the owner is in the first group taking flight.
Jeff Bezos is currently the richest man in the world with an estimated net worth of $177 billion and change. What do you do with all that dough? You hurtle yourself off the planet is what and that’s exactly what the dude is going to do. It might be appointment television when the launch actually happens in July.
