The world’s richest man and Amazon Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Bezos, has successfully flown to space aboard his rocket company, Blue Origin’s New Shephard today to mark the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Bezos and his six-man entourage flew to 350,000ft (106km), more than 20km over Sir Richard Branson’s flight to space last week with Virgin Galactic.
Accompanying Bezos were his brother, Mark Bezos, and 82-year-old female pilot Wally Funk, an avid aviator who trained with NASA to go to space in 1961.
Blue Origin also auctioned off a seat on the flight to a mystery bidder, who paid $28 million.
That bidder dropped out due to a ‘scheduling conflict’ so the spot was taken by 18-year-old, Oliver Daemen.
The New Shepard rocket named after US astronaut, Alan Shepard, landed near launchpad Launch Site One, in Texas, shortly after the capsule containing Bezos detached at 250,000ft (76km).
The six-person capsule, after experiencing microgravity at the peak of the flight, then landed with parachutes in the desert.
