Jeff Bezos launches into space on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket: watch live

Blue Origin's New Shepard to carry Jeff Bezos into space

At 9am EDT today, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is schedule to launch into space on board the New Shepard, built by his company Blue Origin, in the rocket’s first crewed flight.

After separating from the booster at about 76km high, the capsule will continue on to an altitude of around 100km, where Bezos and his three fellow crew members will experience three to four minutes of weightlessness. The capsule will then parachute back to Earth.

Bezos will be joined on New Shepard by 82-year-old Wally Funk, who was part of Mercury 13, a group of women who in the 1960s underwent the same screening tests as NASA’s male astronauts, but never flew in space. Also accompanying Bezos will be his brother, Marc Bezos, and 18-year-old student Oliver Daemen.

Blue Origin is developing the New Shepard as part of a drive to fill the growing market for space tourism.