Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Makes History With All Civilian Sub-orbital Flights

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Jeff Bezos, the 57-year-old founder of Amazon, has a new title to add to his resume: Astronaut.

Bezos successfully flew to the edge of space on Tuesday aboard a rocket and capsule developed by his private spaceflight company, Blue Origin. The billionaire businessman made history by being part of the first fully unmanned sub-orbital flight. The long-awaited flight was also the first manned launch of the New Shepard Blue Origin missile.

Bezos blasted off into space at about 9:11 a.m. ET Tuesday from a location in the West Texas desert southeast of El Paso. After liftoff, the New Shepard rocket accelerated into space at three times the speed of sound. At an altitude of 250,000 feet, the capsule detached, taking Bezos and his crew to the edge of space. The vehicle then descended under the parachutes and landed again in the Texas desert. The whole trip took about 10 minutes.

Both the New Shepard rocket and capsule are designed to be reusable.

Bezos’ launch came just nine days after British billionaire Richard Branson reached the edge of space aboard a rocket-powered vehicle designed by his private space tourism company, Virgin Galactic. The two flights – along with competition between rival billionaires – captured global attention and garnered interest and enthusiasm for the nascent space tourism industry.

In an interview Monday on NBC’s “TODAY,” he described his anticipation for the trip.

“I can’t wait to see what it will be like. People who go into space say they’ve changed back,” Bezos told TODAY host Hoda Kotb. “I can’t wait to see what he does to me.”

Bezos was joined on the flight by his brother, Mark, and Wally Funk, 82, a former test pilot who was one of the 13 Mercury women who underwent training in the 1960s to prove that women could qualify to serve on NASA’s team of astronauts. Funk is now the largest person to reach space.

Among the four crew members was Oliver Daemon, 18, from the Netherlands, who now holds the title of youngest astronaut.

Bezos’ flight was a short sub-orbital flight, meaning that he and his crew did not actually enter into Earth orbit. Instead, the capsule reached the edge of space, at an altitude of about 65 miles, where passengers experienced weightlessness for about four minutes.

Although Bezos’ sub-orbital experience was similar to Branson’s, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic operate with different flight profiles. Virgin Galactic’s rocket-powered Unity vehicle lifts off from a carrier aircraft from an altitude of 50,000 feet and is carried by two pilots. Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket and capsule are vertically launched and designed to fly independently.

The Blue Origin capsule is also designed to reach a higher altitude than Virgin Galactic. The edge of space is often defined by the so-called Karman Line, at 62 miles. The New Shepard capsule flies over the Kármán Line, while the Virgin Galactic craft reached an altitude of about 53 miles during Branson’s flight, creating a rivalry between the two companies.

The FAA and the Air Force recognize a space limit of 50 miles, which means that Bezos, Branson and their fellow passengers all qualify for their commercial astronaut suites.

Bezos’ flight was a milestone for Blue Origin and the commercial spaceflight industry, which until now had been dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX subsidiary. The trips of both Branson and Bezos could open up a lucrative new market for expensive trips to the edge of space.

Blue Origin has not yet announced the cost of tickets for the sub-tropical amusement rides, which are expected to cost several hundred thousand dollars. The company hopes to start operating flights by paying passengers in the near future.

However, it will likely take some time to build up the space tourism industry, said Marco Caceres, aerospace industry analyst at Tel Group Corp., an aerospace and defense market analysis firm.

“Flights with these billionaires are good for exposure and attract attention, but what will add confidence is regularity,” Caceres said. “It will be important for these companies to show that they can take a lot of trips without major problems and without major accidents.”

In addition to suborbital flights offered by Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, SpaceX is planning orbital cruise flights beginning later this year with its first mission to space with an all-civilian crew.

While the cost of suborbital and orbital flights would be out of reach for most people, Bezos spoke of the importance of opening up access to space, especially to young scientists and explorers.

“It’s about building a path to space so future generations can do incredible things in space,” Bezos said Monday on the TODAY show.

Bezos, Branson and Musk have all faced a backlash for what some consider petty or ego-driven projects. But for Jim Cantrell, CEO of Phantom Space, an Arizona-based startup that aims to build and launch commercial satellites, the criticism fails to take into account the potential long-term benefits of investing in space technologies.

“These guys are doing something they think is essential to the future of humanity, and that’s just an initial step,” said Cantrell, a former CEO of SpaceX.

“Entrepreneurs are the ones who helped solve a lot of problems on the ground,” he said. “People should welcome this spirit of exploration, because it’s the same kind of mindset that has found cures for diseases and given us better medicines.”

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