Sir Richard Branson congratulated the crew aboard Tuesday morning’s successful Blue Origin flight as the ‘billionaire space race’ reached a convoluted conclusion.
‘Well done @blueorigin, @jeffbezos, Mark, Wally and Oliver. Impressive! Very best to all the crew from me and all the team at @virgingalactic,’ tweeted Branson of the Virgin Group Tuesday morning.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, 57, became the richest person in the world to go into space.
Branson, 70, congratulated Bezos and others on Tuesday’s flight
Bezos, 57, along with the three other astronauts, flew 66 miles above the surface of the Earth on the fully autonomous rocket and capsule New Shepard
In the end, Branson was the first in the ‘billionaire space race’ to launch himself into space, but Bezos got farther, reaching 66 miles up compared to Branson’s 53, according to The Associated Press.
Branson, 70, completed his own trip on July 11.
His Virgin Galactic flight took an hour, while Bezos’ journey was completed in a little over 10 minutes.
The rocket and capsule from Bezos’ private space company Blue Origin safely touched down to Earth at 9.21am Eastern time.
SpaceX’s Elon Musk wished Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos well on his flight to space. Musk, 50, tweeted, ‘Best of luck tomorrow [Tuesday morning]
Early Tuesday morning, Musk, 50, tweeted, ‘Best of luck tomorrow [Tuesday morning] as Bezos, his 53-year-old brother Mark, Mary Wallace ‘Wally’ Funk and 18-year-old physics student Oliver Daemen headed to space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.
At 82, Funk became the oldest person to fly to space, surpassing former NASA astronaut John Glenn. Daemen became the youngest.
The launch took place at 9.11am and the crew got to experience weightlessness for about four minutes.
Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson, who became the first billionaire in space, wished Bezos well
Richard Branson flew 53 miles above the New Mexico desert during his recent trip to space
Branson also wished Bezos well.
‘Best wishes [Jeff Bezos] and the Blue Origin crew from all of us at Virgin Galactic,’ Branson wrote on Bezos’ Instagram before the flight.
The four astronauts flew more than 60 miles above the surface of the Earth on the fully autonomous rocket and capsule New Shepard.
The group traveled in a capsule with the biggest windows flown into space, offering stunning views of the Earth, according to the space tourism company.
It is going to be a competitive market, with some estimates suggesting it could be worth up to several trillion dollars in future, with tickets costing up to $250,000 initially for a single seat to the edge of space.
Blue Origin named the New Shepard program after astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to fly into space exactly 60 years ago Tuesday.
Fifteen previous test flights of the reusable rocket, which brings the capsule to an altitude of more than 340,000 fleet, and capsule since 2015 – short hops lasting about 10 minutes – were all successful.
Musk’s SpaceX is competing with Bezos’ Blue Origin for lucrative government contracts
Not only are Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic and SpaceX are competing for media attention and the democratization of space, but all three are vying for lucrative government contracts, particularly Blue Origin and SpaceX.
According to The Wall Street Journal, SpaceX has received $2.8 billion in 52 contracts from NASA and the Pentagon over the past 14 federal fiscal years.
By comparison, Blue Origin, founded in 2000, has received $496.5 million in 33 contracts.
Both Blue Origin and SpaceX (along with Dynetics) received lucrative NASA contracts in 2020 to build lunar landing systems to carry NASA astronauts for Artemis moon missions.
A NASA spokesperson eventually confirmed Blue Origin would receive $579 million, while SpaceX and Dynetics would receive $135 million and $253 million, respectively.
On July 13, Blue Origin received approval Monday from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to carry humans on the New Shepard rocket into space on July 20.
New Shepard, which stands 60 feet tall, was specifically designed for Blue Origin’s space tourism venture and has successfully completed 15 test launches, with the latest on April 14.
The capsule that rides atop New Shepard seats six passengers and is equipped with reclining seats.
Each of the seats has a window that are said to the ‘the largest to fly into space.’
Cameras line the interior, allowing travelers to share their memories that are truly out of this world.
The crew traveled 66 miles above Earth’s surface, where they experienced weightlessness due to the zero gravity and saw the curve of the planet with the darkness of space as the backdrop.
Blue Origin’s maiden voyage traveled farther than Branson’s, who reached an altitude of 53.5 miles over the New Mexico desert before gliding safely back to Earth.
The Blue Origin crew spent about four minutes in free fall, though the company has stated in the past that paying customers will spend as much as 10 minutes in zero gravity before returning to Earth.
The billionaire space race is fueled by optimism that space travel will become mainstream as nascent technology is proven and costs fall, fueling what UBS estimates could be a $3 billion annual tourism market by 2030.
Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, as well as Musk’s SpaceX, have also discussed using their rockets to link far-flung global cities.
UBS says that long-haul travel market could be worth more than $20 billion, though several barriers such as air-safety certification could derail the plans.
Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said: ‘Putting the world’s richest man and one of the most recognized figures in business into space is a massive advertisement for space as a domain for exploration, industrialization and investment.’
Blue Origin has not divulged its pricing strategy for future trips.
In 2018, Blue Origin said it was planning to charge passengers at least $200,000 for the ride, based on a market study and other considerations, though its thinking may have changed.
Washington state-based Blue Origin is largely self funded by Bezos, who has been selling over $1 billion worth of stock in Amazon per year to fund the company.
The company recently conducted its first astronaut rehearsal in preparation for Tuesday morning’s flight.
The mock crew traveled the designated path of future spacefaring tourists, which included traveling to the launch pad and climbing up the tower to the passenger capsule.
While celebrities and the uber-rich appear to be a core market for space tourist jaunts, at least initially, industry sources expect Blue Origin to include some philanthropic component to its ticket strategy.
The idea of sending paying customers to the edge of space was once only a plot in science fiction films, but many companies other than Blue Origin are turning the epic journey into a reality.