Jeff Bezos launches into space

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is set to fly to space on the first human flight by his space company, Blue Origin, a landmark moment in the bid to usher in a new era of private commercial space travel


NEW SHEPARD

Length: 18 metres

BE-3 engine: Fuelled by liquid oxygen and hydrogen

Diameter:3-3.5 metres

CAPSULE Pressurized capsule, featuring largest windows ever used in space, allows up to six people to experience few minutes of weightlessness
 
PASSENGERS Jeff Bezos (top), his brother Mark Bezos (below), and auction winner who paid $28m for seat. Fourth crew member to be confirmed

FLIGHT PROFILE
1 Lift off from Van Horn, Texas
2 Capsule separates
3 Capsule reaches beyond Kármán line, over 100km above Earth, where space begins
4 Drag brakes deploy. Engine relights
5 Booster lands some 3km from launchpad
6 Capsule parachutes back to Earth 


Bezos is racing against fellow aspiring billionaire aeronauts Richard Branson and Elon Musk to be first to travel beyond Earth’s atmosphere


Source: Blue Origin
Pictures: Blue Origin, Associated Press, Getty Images 
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