Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, made history on Tuesday.
As announced in June, Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark were aboard the company’s New Shepard craft—named after Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard—for what the former Amazon president and CEO (and current executive chairman) described as “the greatest adventure with my best friend.”
The mission, marking Blue Origin’s first human flight, saw 82-year-old crew member Wally Funk becoming the oldest person to have ever flown in space. Meanwhile, 18-year-old New Shepard crew member Oliver Daemen became the youngest.
“This marks the beginning of commercial operations for New Shepard, and Oliver represents a new generation of people who will help us build a road to space,” Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith said when detailing the mission earlier this month.
Speaking with CNN’s space correspondent Rachel Crane ahead of Tuesday’s brief flight, which itself was closely preceded by a similar act of travel from Richard Branson, Bezos addressed the criticism many have shared amid news coverage of wealthy space-bound men.
“Well, I say they’re largely right. We have to do both,” Bezos said when Crane asked about those arguing that the funds used for projects like the Blue Origin launch could instead be put toward problems on our current planet.
In that spirit, Bezos’ post-flight thanking of Amazon customers and employees was met with cynicism from some.
“I wanna thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you guys paid for all of this,” Bezos said during a post-flight press conference. “Seriously, for every Amazon customer out there and every Amazon employee, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
The New Shepard flight, per the Associated Press, lasted around 10 minutes and consisted of a fully automated travel experience. The goal for the crew was to hit an altitude of approximately 66 miles, which is notably more than 10 miles higher than that of Branson’s mission earlier this month.
Tuesday’s launch, which was followed by a live press conference with the crew, kicked off at around 9 a.m. ET. Watch the full archived livestream event below.
Also announced on Tuesday was that Bezos is giving $100 million each to Van Jones and José Andrés, with the caveat that they can then choose which nonprofits or other causes ultimately receive the money.
“I am beyond honored to accept Jeff Bezos’ inaugural Courage & Civility Award. I do so with a sense of gratitude, awe and wonder. In my 30 years as an activist and social entrepreneur, I have neither heard nor dreamed of a charitable prize of this magnitude,” Jones said in a statement following the announcement. “Even the award’s title both inspires and intimidates. After all, nobody is courageous and kind, 100 percent of the time. I get scared and irritable, just like everyone else. But the truth is: the work I do has taught me what courage & civility LOOK like and what grace FEELS like.”
