Jeff Bezos participates in the first space tour for Blue Origin

“On July 20, I will be taking this trip with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.” Jeff Bezos, Amazon President and founder of space company Blue Origin, will join the first space tourism rocket flight, along with his brother Mark and auction winner, among the general public, for the third ticket. “Since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of space travel”, the billionaire wrote in a post published on Monday, 7 June His Instagram account It is accompanied by a cleverly orchestrated video.

“I didn’t even expect him to say he’d be on the first flight.”His brother comments in this video where we can see the two men embracing.

According to a statement from Blue Origin on Monday, stakes for the third ticket have reached $2.8 million (€2.3 million). They could rise even after this announcement from the Amazon chief. Nearly 6,000 participants from 143 countries took part, the company specifies. The auction will close on June 12.

On the day of departure, the rocket will take off vertically and the capsule will separate from it at an altitude of about 75 km, continuing its trajectory until its height exceeds 100 km. Passengers on board will then be able to float in zero gravity for a few minutes and observe the curvature of space. During this time, the rocket will descend to gently land on the runway, still vertical.

Then the capsule itself would begin free-falling back to Earth, and its speed would be slowed down by three large parachutes and retrograde rockets before descending into a desert in West Texas.