Jeff Bezos flies into space today – here’s how to watch it

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Jeff Bezos started Amazon as an online bookstore in his garage in 1994. Since then, it has become the king of ecommerce, and Bezos has become the richest person in the world. Now that Bezos has established himself as the overlord of online sales, there’s only one place left to go: Space.

Just a week after British entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin Group Richard Branson launched himself into space, Jeff Bezos is going to take the journey as well. The Amazon founder is taking himself, along with a few others, on a space flight with a crew from Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin.

Joining in on this initial space venture will be the younger Bezos brother. The flight will also take two others: A young Dutch physics student, and 82-year-old aspiring astronaut Wally Funk. Here’s how you can check out the flight.

The launch will be streamed on the Blue Origin website and coverage begins at 7:30 AM EDT on Tuesday, July 20. The actual launch however is planned for 9 AM EDT.

Watch it live here

This is a historic spaceflight, to say the least. Not only is it one of the first commercial space flights ever, but it also includes a unique record that Branson’s flight last week wasn’t able to reach. This flight will include both the oldest and youngest person to ever participate in a space flight.

Bezos is also getting a minor leg up in the recent billionaire pissing contest between himself and Richard Branson. Bezos’ flight will be reaching 62 miles above the earth, which is the Department of Defense’s threshold to be considered space. Branson followed the Federal Aviation Administration rules, which only required him to go up 50 miles to be considered in space.

So there you go. Now you can go hate-watch the world’s richest man, who coincidentally pays little to no income tax every year, dump millions into an ego-driven space exploration event.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Jeff Bezos’ last day as Amazon CEO was July 5th – here’s why that date is important
• The FCC just gave Amazon the green light to monitor your sleep with radar
• SpaceX is taking a satellite into space paid for by Dogecoin
• Amazon’s new Reading Sidekick helps kids learn how to read