By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has officially launched into space on his ship, New shepherd.
Bezos took off on Tuesday, July 20, in the first crewed flight of his rocket ship built by the multibillionaire’s aerospace company, Blue Origin.
Onboard the ship alongside Bezos is his brother Mark, 82-year-old Wally Funk, and Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old student. Daemen reportedly replaced a mystery auction winner who paid £20 million for a seat.
The launch at Launch Site One, Texas, took place soon after 9.00am ET (2.12pm UK time).
The capsule the four passengers are in will separate from its booster around 76km (250,000ft) up in the air.
The rocket will then land around two miles away from the launch pad, according to BBC News.
It will take around 11 minutes for New Shepherd to reach its goal of 106km off the ground, giving them the panoramic views of Earth the team is hoping for.
At maximum descent, the four passengers will experience zero gravity, where they’ll stay for around four minutes. It’s during this time that the Bezos brothers, Funk and Daemen will be able to leave their seats and float around for a while.
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