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Blue Origin

The crew of Blue Origin's first human spaceflight, from left to right: Mark Bezos, Jeff Bezos, Oliver Daemen, and Wally Funk.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard crew capsule parachutes back to Earth after a successful flight on July 20 in West Texas.

Blue Origin launches its first spaceflight with humans aboard, including company founder Jeff Bezos.

Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, has worked for years to build reusable rockets, starting with a small suborbital vehicle called New Shepard for tourists and science experiments. To date, New Shepard has flown 15 uncrewed missions, including the pictured launch in January 2021. On July 20, 2021, New Shepard will take up its first human passengers—including Bezos.

Parachutes bring Blue Origin's New Shepard crew capsule to a safe landing after an uncrewed test flight in July 2018.