Jeff Bezos, Three Others Cleared For Space Launch
By Bill Galluccio
July 13, 2021
Jeff Bezos' aerospace company Blue Origin has been cleared for its first crewed space mission. The Federal Aviation Administration issued the company a license to launch Bezos and three others into space on the company's New Shepard rocket. It is the 16th time the New Shepard rocket has taken flight and will be the first mission with crew members and passengers.
The rocket is scheduled to lift off on July 20th at 9 a.m. ET from a launchpad in Van Horn, Texas. July 20th is the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Bezos will be joined by his younger brother Mark, 82-year-old female aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and the undisclosed winner of a $28 million auction.
The six-story rocket will carry the passengers to an altitude of 66 miles before the crew capsule begins to parachute back to earth. That is slightly higher than billionaire Richard Branson who beat Musk to space last week when he climbed to an altitude of 53.5 miles on Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity.
There will be no public viewing areas to watch the launch, and the Texas Department of Transportation will be closing a portion of State Highway 54 near the launch site. The launch will be streamed live on BlueOrigin.com.