Washington (AFP)
To tackle his opponents in the space tourism race, Jeff Bezos will wet the jersey: the future ex-boss of Amazon will set off on July 20 with his brother and the winner of an auction in the first tourist flight from his company Blue Origin.
"Since I was five years old, I have dreamed of traveling to space. On July 20, I will take this trip with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend," the billionaire wrote in a post on Monday. his Instagram account.
The staging is cleverly orchestrated: in a video published with the message, he offers his brother, Mark, to accompany him and takes him in his arms.
"I didn't even expect him to say he would be on the first flight," his brother comments in this short video.
The founder of the Seattle group, who will remain chairman of the board, gives himself a gift of departure in the stars before handing over Amazon controllers to Andy Jassy on July 5, two weeks before the planned launch. .
This publicity stunt is also strategic, at a time when competition is raging between the company he founded, Blue Origin, the SpaceX group led by Elon Musk, and Virgin Galactic founded by Richard Branson.
Of the three competitors in space tourism, Jeff Bezos should be the first to take the plunge himself.
Mr. Branson could board a test flight during the summer aboard the Virgin Galactic ship, but no specific date has been announced.
His company expects regular commercial operations to begin in 2022. The group has already sold some 600 tickets priced between $ 200,000 and $ 250,000.
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Blue Origin's rocket, New Shepard, has passed 15 tests up to the Karman Line, which according to international convention marks the start of space, 100 km above Earth.
But she's never flown with humans on board before.
- $ 2.8 million -
"It's a daring choice", commented Monday Dan Ives, analyst for the firm Wedbush, on the financial channel CNBC, in reference to the danger represented by the mission and the risks of accidents.
Amazon shareholders did not hold it against him for the time being, the share price fell just 0.12% shortly after the opening of Wall Street.
Space is a top priority for Jeff Bezos, and a potential source of considerable revenue, although Blue Origin currently lags behind its main competitor SpaceX in the area of satellites as well as space missions.
Tourism may offer high income prospects, such as the price reached in the auction of the third ticket accompanying Mr. Bezos and his brother, $ 2.8 million according to Blue Origin on Monday.
Nearly 6,000 people from 143 countries participated, the company adds, and the stakes could rise again before betting ends on June 12.
The funds will however go to the foundation created by Blue Origin, Club for the future, in particular intended to encourage the younger generations to start careers in the scientific community.
On the day of departure from New Shepard on July 20, the rocket will take off vertically and the capsule will separate from it at about 75 km in height, continuing its trajectory until exceeding 100 km in altitude.
Passengers on board will then be able to float in zero gravity for a few minutes and observe the curvature of the earth.
During this time, the rocket will descend to land gently on a runway, still vertical.
Then the capsule will itself begin a free fall to return to Earth, and will be slowed down by three large parachutes and retro rockets before landing in a desert in West Texas.
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Also very concerned about its communication, the company Virgin announced for its part at the beginning of June that it would send a 32-year-old researcher very followed on the TikTok social network to carry out experiments there for a few minutes in weightlessness.
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