Jeff Bezos, the richest man on the planet, is preparing for a rocket-powered, 11-minute 2,300-mph excursion to the edge of space, capping off a month filled with rocket news. Here's everything you need to know.
Bezos, who founded Blue Origin in 2000 with the goal of using some of his Amazon fortune to develop rocket technology for a variety of business purposes, will take his extraterrestrial journey just nine days after fellow billionaire and rocket company founder Richard Branson took his own trip.But Bezos' flight, and the technology his company developed to get him there, is far different than Branson's.
The rocket, flying separately after having detached from the human-carrying capsule, will then re-ignite its engines and use its on-board computers to execute a pinpoint, upright landing. The booster landing looks similar to what SpaceX does with its Falcon 9 rockets, though those rockets are far more powerful than New Shepard and — yes — more prone to exploding on impact.A smattering of media will also be allowed in to watch the launch and interview Bezos and the other passengers after landing.
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