Amazon founder Jeff Bezos revealed on Wednesday to New York Times that he will sell shares worth one billion dollars to finance the operations of his new rocket company, Blue Origin.
He also introduced the reusable rocket and capsule, New Shepard, which will take people on a journey where they can enjoy a panoramic view of Earth.
Bezos hopes that Blue Origin will be used for commercial and tourism purposes, and also revealed that he will invest 2.5 billion in the development of an even larger rocket, New Glenn, which will be used to transport satellites and eventually people into orbit.
>>>Elon Musk: A Dreamer Reaching for the Moon and Stars
Like his colleague Elon Musk, who owns Tesla and SpaceX, Bezos revealed that the reusability of rocket parts is key to reducing costs that could lead to a ‘golden age of space exploration’.
-If we can create a low-cost access to space, nothing will stand in the way of entrepreneurs, said Bezos.
Last month, Bezos introduced the first customer for New Glenn, the satellite company Eutelstat, whose commercial flights will help offset costs. New Glenn is expected to begin flights by 2020, but passengers are not expected for many years after that.
>>>Believe it or not, but Elon Musk wants to send people on a trip around the Moon as early as next year
Bezos has been cautious several times regarding the date when Blue Origin will start commercial and passenger flights. Additionally, he did not announce a targeted date for when New Shepard should begin a new round of test flights, only mentioning next year as a milestone.
-It is wrong to race against time when it comes to a spacecraft, especially one that will carry passengers, he said, adding that he believes it will happen during next year.
When asked what the price of such a trip would be, Bezos could not answer but predicted that ticket prices would fall as such trips become commonplace.
Hundreds of people have already paid deposits to reserve seats on similar commercial trips with Virgin Galactic, which could cost around 250 thousand dollars per passenger, although the company has yet to send any passengers into space.
>>>Musk’s ‘drill’ is digging a tunnel in Los Angeles, testing the ground for conquering Mars and the hyperloop breakthrough
New Shepard is a modest start for Bezos’s ambitions in the rising space tourism market. The capsule is designed to carry six passengers, and the journey will last about 10 to 11 minutes.
The Blue Origin spacecraft will not have a crew, and in the capsule with a diameter of about 3 meters, there are six seats equipped with panels displaying information about the altitude at which the spacecraft is located and other travel features.
During ascent, passengers will experience a force of about 3G, which is the strength of three normal gravitational forces that people feel on Earth. When the spacecraft reaches a certain altitude, the capsule will detach and travel above the Karman line, which is located approximately 100 kilometers above sea level, marking the official boundary of Earth’s atmosphere and space.
>>>Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos Becomes the Second Richest Person in the World
At that boundary, passengers will experience weightlessness for 4 to 5 minutes, during which they will be able to unbuckle their seatbelts and do flips inside the dome.
Upon return, they will experience 5G force. The capsule will descend to the plains of West Texas using parachutes. Both the capsule and the rocket can be reused, making the trips economical.
-Reusability is key to bringing millions of people into space to live and work there, said Bezos.
Although the entire concept is very similar to that being developed by SpaceX for its Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX’s efforts are a far greater challenge, as the rocket must achieve acceleration greater than a thousand kilometers per hour to reach orbit. Last week, SpaceX successfully launched a satellite into space using a reusable rocket, the first for commercial use.
New Shepard features a simpler flight path, similar to a large rollercoaster that slows down to stop at the top of the arc.
However, Bezos and his team at Blue Origin believe that thanks to the spacecraft New Shepard, they will gain enough practice and experience that they can apply to New Glenn, which will be produced and launched in Florida.
>>>The Trump Administration Wants a ‘Spectacular’ Return to the Moon
In October of last year, a test flight was conducted during which the emergency system was tested to save passengers and the capsule if something goes wrong during the journey.
Bezos and Musk have very ambitious goals; Musk wants to send people to Mars, while Bezos’s long-term vision includes millions of people living and working in space thanks to him.
