Jeff Bezos to send himself to space on board Blue Origin rocket

The Amazon founder will make the journey next month with his brother

Jeff Bezos will launch himself to space on board one of his Blue Origin rockets, he has said.

The Amazon founder will make the journey next month, alongside his brother, he said in an Instagram post.

“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space,” he wrote. “On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.”

The trip will be a suborbital sightseeing mission, as well as a demonstration of the rocket technology that the company hopes will one day make such space tourism cheaper and more widely available.

He will also travel alongside the winner of a public auction, held by Blue Origin, that will sell a seat on board the same journey. The second round of the auction currently has a highest bid at $2.8m, according to the private space company’s website, and the final winner will be announced at the end of this week.

The New Shepard rocket that will carry the group is designed to carry up to six tourists on each of its flights.

Mr Bezos said last week that he would officially step down as Amazon’s chief executive on 5 July, shortly before the flight. When he announced his move away from the role as head of the company – to instead become executive chairman – he said that it was intended partly to allow him to spend more time on his private space company.

Blue Origin was founded in 2000, though it remained mostly secret for much of the time since. The company started opening up about its plans in recent years, though is still more private than rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

It is still somewhat behind its rival, too, being yet to complete any passenger flights. As such, Mr Bezos’s journey next month will be a major landmark for the company as well as for its founder.