Jeff Bezos to ride his own Blue Origin New Shepard capsule in first manned space flight

In a crucial first human flight for Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin spaceflight company, Bezos himself will be onboard.

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It was fairly recent that it was announced that Jeff Bezos will be stepping down from his position as CEO of Amazon. A big portion of this is because he wants to pour more of his energy into his other ventures, such as newspaper The Washington Post and aerospace company Blue Origin. The latter of these is approaching its latest milestone with its first manned space flight in July 2021, apparently a flight that Jeff Bezos will take personal part in as a passenger.

This upcoming flight and Jeff Bezos’ involvement was recently announced by Blue Origin and Jeff Bezos himself, as reported by AP. According to the announcement, Blue Origin will be launching it’s very first human passenger flight on July 20, 2021 with the New Shepard capsule. Joining Bezos will be his brother and a further passenger who was the winner of a charity auction. The flight is also taking place 15 days after Jeff Bezos is expected to fully step down from his position as CEO of the Amazon corporation.

Blue Origin has run plenty of test flights previously for its spacecraft, but with Bezos himself on board in its first manned flight, Blue Origin has its most important launch yet ahead in July 2021.
Blue Origin has run plenty of test flights previously for its spacecraft, but with Bezos himself on board in its first manned flight, Blue Origin has its most important launch yet ahead in July 2021.

It’s an interesting thing for Bezos to actually take a seat in his own spacecraft for the company’s first manned flight. Given the many issues that can take place when it comes to any sort of space flight, it seems rather risky to take such a hands-on part in such a major milestone for his company. Nonetheless, it might also speak to Bezos and his team’s confidence in the quality of the New Shepard capsule and its safety. This is also coming after Blue Origin delayed its New Glenn rocket launch into 2022 earlier in February this year.

It will be interesting to see how this upcoming launch plays out with such precious cargo on board. Stay tuned as we follow the Blue Origin New Shepard capsule’s take off and Bezos’ flight when it comes up in July.

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

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