Jeff Bezos has successfully completed his rocket company, Blue Origin’s, first passenger flight into space, and he wants to take it further.
Amazon founder and the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, has become the second billionaire in just over a week to ride his own spacecraft into space.
Bezos was joined on the flight by his younger brother Mark, Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen and aviation pioneer Mary Wallace Funk for the 10-minute suborbital journey.
“We’re going to build a road to space so that our kids can build a future,” said Bezos.
“We need to do that to solve the problems here on Earth.”
It wouldn’t be a successful journey without a little bit of competition, with the Blue Origin flight coming nine days after Virgin Galactic owner Richard Branson travelled to the edge of space.
Bezos and his crew travelled slightly further than Branson, travelling about 106 km, whereas Branson’s ride went 85 km.
Bezos said that he hoped the flight was the first step in a process that will eventually see environmentally damaging industries relocated to other planets to protect Earth.
“We need to take all heavy industry – all polluting industry – and move it into space,” he said.
“You have to remember: big things start small.”
Once the spacecraft launched, social media erupted in comparisons between the Blue Origin flight and Dr Evil’s rocket in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.
Most of the similarities were specific to the design of the rocket, particularly the bottom portion.
Life is Austin Powers now. pic.twitter.com/G4MPEd0XWv
— Karl’s farm hand (@MotherofPups) July 20, 2021
Blue origin rocket vs Austin powers space ship… At least Richard Branson had an original design when he went to space last week pic.twitter.com/TrcfJKN8Zo
— JoeHoh (@joe_hoh) July 20, 2021
Unfortunately for those who signed the petition on Change.org for Bezos not to be allowed back into Earth after the gravity-defying journey, he and his crew made it back safe and sound.
“I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer, because you guys paid for all of this,” he told reporters after the journey.
“Best day ever!”
