Photos of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket and spaceship offer a peek at Jeff Bezos' first-class flight to the edge of space

Morgan McFall-JohnsenJun 15, 2021, 22:24 IST

Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin employees celebrate the New Shepard rocket booster's first landing.Blue Origin

Jeff Bezos plans to launch to space aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket as early as July 20, alongside his brother and two guests who have not yet been named.
The group will be the vehicle's first passengers.
Photos of the rocket and spaceship offer a peek at Bezos' upcoming flight, which will be unlike any human spaceflight before it.
In just 11 minutes, New Shepard will carry the group to the edge of space and back.
Unlike NASA astronauts, who have to wear spacesuits and pilot their vehicles, Blue Origin's passengers will recline next to huge windows and experience three minutes of weightlessness.

Jeff Bezos is planning to fly to the edge of space aboard a spaceship built by Blue Origin, the spaceflight company he founded in 2000.

Jeff Bezos inside a New Shepard Crew Capsule mockup at the 33rd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, April 5, 2017. Isaiah J. Downing/Reuters

"Ever since I was five years old, I've dreamed of traveling to space," Bezos said in an Instagram post announcing his plans last week.

"I want to go on this flight because it's a thing I wanted to do all my life. It's an adventure — it's a big deal for me," he added in an accompanying video.

Ever since I was five years old, I've dreamed of traveling to space, Bezos said in an Instagram post announcing his plans last week.

I want to go on this flight because it's a thing I wanted to do all my life. It's an adventure — it's a big deal for me, he added in an accompanying video.

As early as July 20, Bezos, his brother Mark, and two guests are set to climb into a capsule on top of the company's New Shepard rocket.

The cabin of New Shepard's crew capsule. Blue Origin

The capsule's round, pressurized cabin has room for six passengers. But Jeff and Mark Bezos only plan to bring two companions to space — neither of whom have yet been named.

One of those passengers won the seat in an auction on Saturday, bidding $28 million that will go to Blue Origin's foundation, Club for the Future. Following the auction, Blue Origin said it would announce the fourth person in the coming weeks.

The capsule's round, pressurized cabin has room for six passengers. But Jeff and Mark Bezos only plan to bring two companions to space — neither of whom have yet been named.

The five-story rocket has flown successfully 15 times, but never with people on board.

Blue Origin

The upcoming flight would make Bezos and his companions the rocket's first passengers.

If all goes according to plan, New Shepard will lift off from Blue Origin's West Texas launchpad and carry Bezos and his companions to the edge of space.

New Shepard lifts off from the West Texas launchpad on April 14, 2021. Blue Origin

The force of the climb and the pull of Earth's gravity — which will feel three times stronger than normal — will pin the Bezos brothers and their guests into their seats.

Then the rocket booster will separate from the passenger capsule and fall back to Earth.

The New Shepard rocket booster falls away from the capsule high above Earth. Blue Origin

Bezos and his companions will be able to watch out their windows as the booster falls away. Their capsule will continue rising past the Kármán line — an imaginary boundary 62 miles (100 kilometers) above sea level, where space begins.

The rocket booster will plummet through the atmosphere, then fire its engines to lower itself onto a concrete landing pad.

Bezos checks out a New Shepard booster on the Texas landing pad after the rocket's 15th test flight. Blue Origin

Blue Origin plans to restore the New Shepard boosters to reuse them in future flights.

Meanwhile, back in space, Bezos and his companions will be weightless for about three minutes.

The view from space on New Shepard's 15th flight, April 14, 2021. Blue Origin

They can unbuckle and drift around the spacious cabin, gazing at Earth below them and the blackness of space behind them. The capsule features the world's largest spaceship windows, according to Blue Origin.

The passengers won't be responsible for operating the spacecraft, and might not even wear spacesuits. They'll simply be free to enjoy the views.

An illustration of passengers aboard the New Shepard capsule in space. Blue Origin

The entire flight is automated, so there are no pilots. Blue Origin's website indicates that New Shepard passengers will wear only a jumpsuit — not a pressurized spacesuit and helmet.

That's quite different from NASA's newest spaceship for astronauts: SpaceX's Crew Dragon.

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley practice a simulation of launch and docking of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, March 19, 2020. SpaceX

New Shepard is designed for a tourist experience, with views and comfort among the top priorities.

Crew Dragon, on the other hand, is made for professional astronauts who monitor and control the spaceship. Dragon passengers sit face-to-face with a set of screens. NASA requires astronauts to wear spacesuits during launch and landing.

New Shepard is designed for a tourist experience, with views and comfort among the top priorities.

After three minutes in space, Bezos and his companions must buckle up for a high-speed plummet home.

Blue Origin employee Audrey Powers acts as a passenger stand-in to practice boarding the capsule and strapping in, April 14, 2021. Blue Origin

The friction from a space capsule that's falling through Earth's atmosphere can heat the surrounding plasma material to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit. So the capsule's heat shield — a panel of heat-resistant material at the bottom — must protect the passengers inside. Even so, they'll likely be in for a bumpy ride.

A few minutes later, the capsule should release three parachutes to brake its fall and lower it to a gentle landing in the Texas desert.

The crew capsule lands in the West Texas desert, April 14, 2021. Blue Origin

The passengers could feel a significant jerk as the parachutes balloon into the air.

If anything goes wrong during landing, the capsule's seats are designed to absorb some of the impact to protect the passengers.

A seat on the New Shepard capsule. Blue Origin

The capsule also has a crushable "bumper" section on the bottom.

A recovery team will be waiting to help the passengers as they climb out.

Blue Origin employees standing in as passengers practice exiting the New Shepard crew capsule. Blue Origin

The entire journey will last just 11 minutes.

If the flight succeeds, Bezos could become the first person to fly to space aboard his own company's rocket.

Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin employees celebrate the New Shepard rocket booster's first landing. Blue Origin

However, a report last week from Douglas Messier, who runs the space blog Parabolic Arc, indicated that Richard Branson may try to beat Bezos to space by flying to the Kármán line on a Virgin Galactic space plane over July 4th weekend. The report is unconfirmed, but the company hasn't denied it.

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