Bezos’s Blue Origin flight into space for 5th crewed mission
- The flight included engineer Katya Echazarreta, who at 26 became the youngest American woman in space
- Jeff Bezos’s company is a leading player in the nascent space tourism market, and has flown Star Trek icon William Shatner
Jeff Bezos’s company Blue Origin flew six tourists into space for a 10-minute ride Saturday, successfully carrying out its fifth crewed mission.
The white spacecraft called New Shepard lifted off with a roar from a desert spot in west Texas at 8.26am local time.
The crew hooted with glee as the rocket reached space, a Blue Origin webcast showed.
The flight included engineer Katya Echazarreta, who at 26 became the youngest American woman in space. The Guadalajara native also became the first Mexican-born woman to go into space.
Her spot was sponsored by Space for Humanity, a programme that seeks to democratise access to space and selected her from among 7,000 candidates.
The crew also included the first Brazilian to go into space, Victor Correa Hespanha, as well as businessmen Hamish Harding, Jaison Robinson, Victor Vescovo and Evan Dick.