- To see the Earth from space, it changes you,
it changes your relationship
with this planet, with humanity.
I really want you to come with me.
Would you?
- Are you serious?
- I am, I think it would be meaningful.
Have my brother there.
- [Narrator] In this Instagram video,
Blue Origin CEO Jeff Bezos shocked the world
when he announced that he and his brother
would be aboard the company's first human space flight,
scheduled for July 20th.
If the suborbital flight of New Shepard is a success,
it will propel Blue Origin ahead of competitors,
setting the stage for the next era
of commercial human space travel.
- I wanna move out into the solar system.
I want my grandchildren's grandchildren
to be in that world,
pioneering and exploration,
expansion throughout the solar system.
(rocket booming)
- [Narrator] The launch of New Shepard comes
at a key moment for Blue Origin,
which has faced setbacks in other high-profile parts
of its business.
Here's how Blue Origin blasted ahead
of its competition
and what its inaugural passenger flight means
for the company.
(pensive music)
In the race to launch tourism flights into space,
Blue Origin's main competitor, Virgin Galactic,
has been in the lead.
- We are the first of the commercial spaceship companies
to put people into space.
- [Narrator] In May 2021, Richard Branson's space venture
successfully launched its third crewed space flight.
- [Announcer] Three, two, one, release, release, release.
- [Narrator] A feat Blue Origin has yet to achieve
but this is where Bezos' company hopes
to inch out ahead.
The New Shepard launch in July
will have at least one paying passenger,
something Virgin Galactic has never done.
- It's a key marker.
- [Narrator] Doug Cameron has covered the aerospace industry
for over 30 years.
- They've won contracts, they've won government
and military deals, they've developed rockets
but a lot of it is still just that, in development.
So this is something which they've actually set out
with an objective and achieve.
- [Narrator] If everything goes as planned,
passengers will spend
a few minutes experiencing micro gravity
above the Karman Line,
the altitude where space begins.
And the cost to be on this historic flight isn't cheap.
In June, Blue Origin held a charity auction
for a ticket to join Bezos into suborbital space.
- Sold, $28 million to number 107.
(people clapping) (people cheering)
- There is ultimately a perhaps
multi-billion dollar business to be built
in taking people to the edge of space and maybe beyond.
- [Narrator] But as Blue Origin plans
its first space tourism flight,
larger parts of its business have been struggling.
Recently, the space venture has faced scrutiny
for losing a couple of high-profile government contracts.
In April, SpaceX beat out Blue Origin
in a bid to build a lunar lander for NASA.
NASA officials said it chose SpaceX
because its bid fit within the agency's budget.
- Blue Origin, it's pushing back on that
and it's hopeful that more money can be found
and that it can get that kind of big government contract,
which can help fund future vehicles
and technology going forward.
- [Narrator] NASA's lunar lander
wasn't the only big-ticket deal
that Blue Origin has missed out on.
In August 2020, Bezos' company lost
a multi-billion dollar Air Force contract
to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance.
Industry insiders were not surprised.
The Pentagon had previously indicated
that it would put a high value on the track record
of each company in the running,
and SpaceX and United Launch Alliance
both had a longer history of military launches
that Blue Origin did not.
Recently, Bezos' company has also faced development delays.
Its mammoth new Glenn rocket was originally slated
for completion this year
but has been pushed back until late 2022.
- They obviously have a number of technical hurdles
for the broader business
that they still have to cross.
Every executive and engineer involved
in the space business will say
that it's hard, it's tricky.
You're playing with physics here
and physics is a very hard taskmaster.
- [Narrator] But aside from a rocky start,
Blue Origin's space tourism program
has run smoother than some other parts
of the business.
- New Shepard's first launch didn't go well.
It blew up.
They've had 15 successful ones,
as well as tests of other parts of the system since them.
- [Narrator] And the road to launch New Shepard
has been successful in part due to its funding.
Blue Origin has Bezos' financial backing
and he is one of the wealthiest men in the world.
Bezos has funneled as much as roughly $1 billion a year
into the space venture to fund his cosmic vision.
- It's one Earth.
I wanna go on this flight
because it's a thing I've wanted to do all my life.
It's an adventure.
- [Narrator] Bezos is even stepping away
from his role as CEO of Amazon,
one of the largest companies in the world
in part to focus on Blue Origin.
If Blue Origin's rocket lifts off on schedule,
it will be a big win for the company.
- The important thing about this first launch
is it'll be potentially the first time
that Blue Origin has achieved something it said
it was gonna do that everyone can grasp.
They've put people in space.
- [Narrator] But competitor Virgin Galactic
isn't far beyond.
In August 2020, the company signaled plans
to launch its own tourism flights in 2021.
So if it's a success,
the launch of New Shepard would signal the start
of the next era of space tourism,
not only for Blue Origin
but for the larger space industry as well.
(dramatic music)