Having conquered much of our earthly realm, Jeff Bezos plans to mix things up by heading to outer space in his own company’s rocket ship.
Bezos announced on Monday that he would be heading to the cosmos on July 20 on the first crewed voyage of New Shepard, a rocket ship produced by Bezos’s space-exploration company Blue Origin, which he founded in 2000. His brother Mark will join him in the six-seat vessel, while another spot on the trip is being auctioned off — it’s currently going for the low, low price of $2.8 million.
“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space,” Bezos, 57, said in an Instagram post heralding his trip. “On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.”
Barring problems, the flight will be an 11-minute jaunt that travels 60 miles above Earth, per CNN.
Bezos, who is worth about $186 billion, announced earlier this year that he would step down as CEO of Amazon, as the company achieves more dominance in the American business landscape than ever. He will relinquish his role on July 5, handing over the reins to longtime deputy Andy Jassy — which is probably a good thing to do before testing your own spacecraft.
