Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin sends 1st Egyptian and Portuguese nationals to space
The autonomous, re-usable vehicle sent its crew capsule soaring above the Karman line, the internationally recognized space boundary, 62 miles (100 kilometers) above sea level.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin on Thursday launched six people to space on the company's sixth crewed flight. The passengers list comprised of the co-founder of YouTube channel Dude perfect and the first space travellers from Egypt and Portugal.
It included Coby Cotton, one of five co-founders of the YouTube sports and comedy channel Dude Perfect, which boasts more than 57 million followers. The crew also included Egyptian engineer Sara Sabry, and Portuguese entrepreneur Mario Ferreira, both the first people of their countries to leave Earth.
Mission "N-22" saw the New Shepard suborbital rocket blast off around 8:58 am local time (1358 GMT) from Blue's base in the west Texas desert.
The autonomous, re-usable vehicle sent its crew capsule soaring above the Karman line, the internationally recognized space boundary, 62 miles (100 kilometers) above sea level.
"I'm floating!" a crew mate could be heard saying on a livestream, as the capsule coasted to its highest point and the passengers experienced a few minutes of weightlessness.
Both the rocket and capsule separately returned to the base - the latter using giant parachutes - completing the mission around 11 minutes after lift-off.
A Blue Origin spokeswoman confirmed all six crew were paying passengers - though Sabry's seat was sponsored by nonprofit Space for Humanity.
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Blue Origin has not revealed its ticket prices.
Past flights have included celebrity guests who have flown for free, including Star Trek legend William Shatner. The space tourism industry is blooming with rapid development and newer opportunities after widely publicised space tourism trials by famed personalities and business tycoons.
