Jeff Bezos and his brother are going to be on Blue Origin’s first passenger flight into space

Jeff Bezos is going to be on the first passenger flight to space operated by his spaceflight company, Blue Origin, when it blasts off on July 20. Also on the flight will be his brother, Mark Bezos, and whoever wins the current online auction for the last seat, which is currently at a $2.8 million bid.

The July 20 launch will be the first time the New Shepard rocket has flown with humans on board, after making 15 successful flights with only a minor incident where the reusable booster was lost on recovery.

The passengers won’t quite make it to outer space, instead, the reusable rocket capsule gets right to the edge of space, giving a few minutes of weightlessness and some of the best holiday pictures in the world for the family scrapbook.

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It’s still kinda odd to me that the first crewed flight will be flying the richest man on Earth to near-Earth orbit, as well as another member of his family. Sure, I’ve heard “put your money where your mouth is” so many times but I’ve never seen it followed through on in such a spectacular fashion.

Space is cool but let’s not forget he made his billions on the backs of badly treated Amazon warehouse and delivery workers and giving them closets to hide from their capitalistic overlords isn’t enough, even if they’re paid above the minimum wage.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere. His hobbies include photography, animation, and hoarding Reddit gold.