Today multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos climbs into the New Shepard spacecraft to set sail for space. The launch is scheduled for 3 p.m. Belgian time. The website of his space company Blue Origin will broadcast the event from 1.30 pm. You can follow it live here.
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Bezos and his companions depart from the Corn Ranch, a site in the US state of Texas close to the equator. They will experience three minutes of weightlessness at the edge of space, before returning to the launch site. After only 10 minutes, the space tourists should be back on Earth.
The New Shepard travels without a pilot. Mark Bezos, the younger brother, the 81-year-old former flight instructor Wally Funk and the 18-year-old multimillionaire son from the Netherlands, Oliver Daemen, accompany Bezos on his journey. In this way, Bezos brings both the oldest and the youngest person into space in one fell swoop. Richard Branson earlier this month usurped the title of first space tourist.
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