Jeff Bezos blasts into space on Blue Origin rocket


Arthur Scott-Geddes
  • English
  • Arabic

Jeff Bezos blasted into space aboard a Blue Origin rocket on Tuesday, in a historic flight for the space tourism industry he helped to create.

The billionaire Amazon founder and his brother were on board the first human flight of the company’s New Shepard rocket — the first flight into space to take place without a pilot or crew.

Mr Bezos, dressed in a blue flight suit and cowboy hat, waved to a cheering crowd at the company's west Texas launch facility before boarding the rocket.

The gleaming white rocket took off shortly after 1pm GMT, reaching a speed of more than three times the speed of sound as it climbed to an altitude of more than 107 kilometres.

After it separated from the main booster, which landed autonomously back at the launch pad, the four crew members experienced several minutes of weightlessness before the capsule touched down gently under parachutes.

"That was incredible," Mr Bezos said as the crew members discussed the flight after landing.

Video footage showed the billionaire with a beaming smile, waving to the support crew from the window of the capsule.

Mr Bezos may have been beaten into space by fellow billionaire Richard Branson, who flew to the edge of space on board his own rocket plane earlier this month, but Blue Origin still managed to make history on Tuesday’s flight.

Also on board was Dutch student Oliver Daemen, 18, who became the youngest person ever to fly to space after being picked for the last remaining seat.

Mr Daemen received the lucky slot after the winner of a $28 million auction stepped aside because of a scheduling conflict.

The son of a hedge fund manager, Mr Daemen was Blue Origin’s first paying customer.

Blue Origin did not disclose the price of his ticket, but company chief executive Bob Smith said: “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 also helped aviation pioneer Wally Funk, 82, become the oldest person to go to space.

Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk. Courtesy Oliver Daemen; AFP Photo
Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk. Courtesy Oliver Daemen; AFP Photo

Ms Funk, who was part of a trailblazing, privately-backed effort to put a woman in space in the 1960s but never got to go, had been personally asked to join the flight by Mr Bezos.

"Today is just the first of many flights to come on New Shepard," Blue Origin's sales director Ariane Cornell said on the live-stream, adding that ticket sales were now open.

Mr Bezos, who founded Blue Origin in 2000, years before his fellow billionaires Elon Musk and Mr Branson founded their rival space companies, has long dreamt of going to space.

The launch is the culmination of more than two decades of rocket science, much of which was done in secret.

The New Shepard rocket is designed to take its passengers on an 11-minute, suborbital flight past the Karman line – an internationally recognised boundary for space that is 100 kilometres above the Earth.

Unlike Virgin Galactic’s space plane, which was dropped from a larger carrier aircraft before igniting its rocket engine and climbing to the edge of space, Blue Origin’s rocket takes off from a launch pad like a conventional rocket launch.

Mr Bezos and Blue Origin believe that its space tourism experience is better than the ones offered by its competitors.

The company was criticised after it published a cynical Twitter post comparing the two rockets in the build-up to Mr Branson’s flight.

Proving the safety of space tourism is a vital early step on the way to creating an industry that Swiss investment bank UBS estimates will be worth $3 billion a year by 2030.

"One of the main goals of the New Shepard mission is to demonstrate that going to suborbital space is perfectly safe for the average person," said Teal Group space industry analyst Marco Caceres.

Mr Musk's SpaceX is planning an even more ambitious mission in September, using its Crew Dragon capsule to send an all-civilian crew on an orbital flight around the Earth in a mission lasting several days.

Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants

'Nope'
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Company%20profile
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FIGHT%20CARD
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RESULTS

6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,200
Winner: Miqyaas, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Rashed Bouresly (trainer).

7.05pm: Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Untold Secret, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.

7.40pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m​​​​​​​
Winner: Shanty Star, Fabrice Veron, Rashed Bouresly.

8.15pm: Handicap Dh190,000 (D) 1,600m​​​​​​​
Winner: Alkaamel, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.

8.50pm: Handicap Dh175,000 (D) 1,400m​​​​​​​
Winner: Speedy Move, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.

9.25pm: Handicap Dh175,000 (D) 2,000m​​​​​​​
Winner: Quartier Francois, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.

It Was Just an Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

Specs%20
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Tank warfare

Lt Gen Erik Petersen, deputy chief of programs, US Army, has argued it took a “three decade holiday” on modernising tanks. 

“There clearly remains a significant armoured heavy ground manoeuvre threat in this world and maintaining a world class armoured force is absolutely vital,” the general said in London last week.

“We are developing next generation capabilities to compete with and deter adversaries to prevent opportunism or miscalculation, and, if necessary, defeat any foe decisively.”

Company profile

Name: Steppi

Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic

Launched: February 2020

Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year

Employees: Five

Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai

Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings

Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year

CONFIRMED%20LINE-UP
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20S24%20ULTRA
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MATCH INFO

Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)

Third-place play-off: New Zealand v Wales, Friday, 1pm

Sri Lanka squad

Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Niroshan Dickwella, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milinda Siriwardana, Roshen Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Charith Asalanka, Shaminda Eranga and Dhammika Prasad.

UAE%20FIXTURES
%3Cp%3EWednesday%2019%20April%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Kuwait%3Cbr%3EFriday%2021%20April%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Hong%20Kong%3Cbr%3ESunday%2023%20April%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Singapore%3Cbr%3EWednesday%2026%20April%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Bahrain%3Cbr%3ESaturday%2029%20April%20%E2%80%93%20Semi-finals%3Cbr%3ESunday%2030%20April%20%E2%80%93%20Third%20position%20match%3Cbr%3EMonday%201%20May%20%E2%80%93%20Final%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
WISH
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Chris%20Buck%2C%20Fawn%20Veerasunthorn%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ariana%20DeBose%2C%20Chris%20Pine%2C%20Alan%20Tudyk%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups

Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.

Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.

Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.

Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.

The biog

Name: Sarah Al Senaani

Age: 35

Martial status: Married with three children - aged 8, 6 and 2

Education: Masters of arts in cultural communication and tourism

Favourite movie: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

Favourite hobbies: Art and horseback ridding

Occupation: Communication specialist at a government agency and the owner of Atelier

Favourite cuisine: Definitely Emirati - harees is my favourite dish

AGL AWARDS

Golden Ball - best Emirati player: Khalfan Mubarak (Al Jazira)
Golden Ball - best foreign player: Igor Coronado (Sharjah)
Golden Glove - best goalkeeper: Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah)
Best Coach - the leader: Abdulaziz Al Anbari (Sharjah)
Fans' Player of the Year: Driss Fetouhi (Dibba)
Golden Boy - best young player: Ali Saleh (Al Wasl)
Best Fans of the Year: Sharjah
Goal of the Year: Michael Ortega (Baniyas)

Timeline

1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line

1962
250 GTO is unveiled

1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company

1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens

1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made

1987
F40 launched

1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent

2002
The Enzo model is announced

2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi

2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled

2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives

2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company

2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street

2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary

hall of shame

SUNDERLAND 2002-03

No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.

SUNDERLAND 2005-06

Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.

HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19

Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.

ASTON VILLA 2015-16

Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.

FULHAM 2018-19

Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.

LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.

BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66

Our legal consultants

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Squads

Sri Lanka Tharanga (c), Mathews, Dickwella (wk), Gunathilaka, Mendis, Kapugedera, Siriwardana, Pushpakumara, Dananjaya, Sandakan, Perera, Hasaranga, Malinga, Chameera, Fernando.

India Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rohit, Rahul, Pandey, Rahane, Jadhav, Dhoni (wk), Pandya, Axar, Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, Thakur.

What are the influencer academy modules?
  1. Mastery of audio-visual content creation. 
  2. Cinematography, shots and movement.
  3. All aspects of post-production.
  4. Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
  5. Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
  6. Tourism industry knowledge.
  7. Professional ethics.
The%20specs%20
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Updated: July 20, 2021, 5:40 PM`