Jeff Bezos to fly on first Blue Origin human test flight

Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images News via Getty Images

• Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) Jeff Bezos announces on Instagram that he and his brother Mark will join the Blue Origin (BORGN) auction winner on New Shepard's first human flight on July 20.
• Bezos indicates he has dreamed of space travel since he was five years old.
• Bidding is underway now to join Bezos and his brother on the spaceflight. Blue Origin says auction bidding is already at $2.8M with nearly 6K participants across 143 countries participating.
• Shares of Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) have been active in the past after Blue Origin developments. Notably, Virgin Galactic has soared since its last test flight.
• Earlier reports indicated that flight pricing for future Blue Origin space jaunts could exceed $500K per seat.

Comments

[vonnyg]

That's a lotta dough for a suborbital view of the earth. Bon voyage all, safe return.

[Gary J is Rich on AMZN]

@vonnyg

"That's a lotta dough" for you but not some others. /fixed

[JosephCortes]

I heard that Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson are tacking the Next Virgen Galatic Flight together.
Making it the very first Galactic Billionaire Party Flight.
Go figure, LOL...

- (cold joke)

[blando3]

Jeff Bezos - as the richest and arguably one of the most powerful people on Earth - should be focusing on problems here, on our planet. Plastic packaging for one. His company is responsible for a massive amount of single use plastic packaging that will mostly end up in the ocean.

If he so chose, he could put in place policies that require every company in the Amazon supply chain to switch to paper/biodegradable packaging. It would be one of the most important and necessary steps needed to secure the future of our oceans, and he'd go down in history for doing the right thing.

[Booban]

@blando3 Actually he is more focused solving problems on this planet than Mars. But mostly you should blame your politicians.

[Wez]

@blando3
"should be focusing on problems here, on our planet."

You can strive toward more than one thing at a time. Stop with the binary fallacies.

[blando3]

@Booban Politicians are bound by the will of the voters and the influence of lobbyists. Bezos controls the way most of us buy our essential items like food and household products. He could implement changes just like that.

And what problems is fixing here?

[learning_quietly]

We’ll learn soon they have been planning this for two years when Amazon Prime releases the documentary ‘Billionaires in Space’

[rurichyet?]

If you can have everything then you need nothing. Boring, why not try something else.

[kthor]

so who would be an ideal seat mates with him? Bill Gates, any of the Tramps? what is BetMGM odds of crashing/success?

[mikefornow]

I'm going to predict that the blue origin first human flight will end badly and Bezos will be no more. Just have a strange feeling about that

[LT Capital Gains]

@mikefornow Same here.

[SUE2]

Good for him. Imagine if Bezos didn't want to go. Also imagine the stock should he be injured. Just posting out loud. I do not hold any Amazon stock unless. likely, some funds I hold do have Amazon shares.

[sts66]

@SUE2 You don't get "injured" in a rocket launch and return - you either live or you don't.

[V_uniqueacc]

@sts66 what if you break your finger on the ignition button, does that count?

[craftbrewinfo]

"Jeff Bezos to fly on first Blue Origin human test flight"
Well now we know why he named the successor lol

[Wez]

I love how a bunch of our richest people have Space Exploration goals, it's truly a blessing for those of us who think Exploring our Universe is and should be, our highest priority!

[Davy Crockett]

@Wez I agree that the exploration of the universe is a highly worthy endeavor. However, the rationale for accomplishing such exploration by sending humans into space continues to diminish with each passing year, as the capabilities and reliability of remote sensing, robotics, and information sciences continue to improve. We can explore the universe far more effectively at much lower cost and risk via unmanned missions. Unmanned missions are also a much better utilization of time: Consider the lengthy delays on subsequent missions following US space fatalities - the Apollo 1 fire, Challenger, Columbia.

[Wez]

@Davy Crockett

We can do both. We can't become a truly space faring species unless we go to space. Yes, we can explore much further with much less risk with robots and we should continue to do that, but we must also figure out how to move ourselves around our solar system and ultimately beyond.

I'm not thrilled by the thought of populating new Solar systems with robots carrying our DNA with them, although that may ultimately be one solution.

[Gary J is Rich on AMZN]

@Davy Crockett

Newsflash: This is private money. This is not taxpayer money. Big difference, especially to those that understand the difference. Difficult concept, for sure.

[JosephCortes]

SPCE will soon blow everyone away.
A quick NEW 52 week high is on its way!

[MaxPower912]

@JosephCortes
I'm in at $14 :-)

[JosephCortes]

@MaxPower912 You must be very happy. But trust me... SPCE is just getting started.

[Up and Away]

Give him credit for putting his money where his mouth is. He is the first!

[Gary J is Rich on AMZN]

@Up and Away and vice versa, actually.

[Wez]

@Up and Away
"Give him credit for putting his azz where his mouth is."

FIFY

[Jack Baker]

Maybe he should spend more time trying to lift his crappy AMZN stock for the past year.

[sts66]

For someone so smart he's being incredibly stupid - test pilots get paid to take enormous risks flying in new flight vehicles. You could offer me a billion dollars to be on that first flight and I'd refuse.

[luffyman]

@sts66 You’re cray lol. For a billion dollars, your family would be set for generations to come. I’d take it in a heart beat.

[Booban]

@sts66 Its flown 15 times already.

[SUE2]

@sts66 Different strokes for different folks. Some will say what they did with their lives. Others will say what they what they coulda, shoulda mighta done.

[buckiowa]

Can he take Zuckerberg & Dorsey with him? 4-3-2-1

[Gary J is Rich on AMZN]

@buckiowa who would be left on your envy list?

[kthor]

could/would ex wife get everything after it crashes?

[SUE2]

@kthor I expect that is all covered. If, not imagine what will crawl out of the woodwork when they smell money.

[MaxPower912]

@kthor
You don't think his current wife would "get everything"?

[Doctor E]

Dangerous hobby he got himself there.

[MaxPower912]

@Doctor E
eating bacon 3 times a week is more dangerous than this ride to altitude

[sts66]

@MaxPower912 It's not the altitude that creates risk - it's the launch and landing - sometimes rockets go boom.

[Ice_Kold]

Not a fan of his business tactics and his extreme wealth, but I have to respect this move. That's a "man" (person) that stands behind his product. This takes courage to do, which I don't believe I would have myself.

Have a safe flight Jeff. Hopefully you get to experience something wonderful up there.

[Mauseman]

Reality show or livestream? Bezos ig going to monetize this puppy some how.

[goodfellasfinancial]

I've never wished a man dead, though I've smiled reading an obituary

[Johann Galt]

@goodfellasfinancial
Samuel Clemens or original? Great quote on any case.

[goodfellasfinancial]

@Johann Galt probably paraphrased and from Clemens. Quite apropos I felt