Jeff Bezos announced on Monday that he will travel to space during his rocket company’s first extraterrestrial passenger flight on July 20.
Blue Origin Federation, LLC, Bezos’ aerospace manufacturer, will host the billionaire, his brother, and the winner of an auction during its first human voyage.
“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend,” Bezos said in an Instagram post that included a video of the announcement.
“To see Earth from space, it changes you,” Bezos said in the video. “It changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity. It’s one Earth. I want to go on this flight because it’s a thing I’ve wanted to do all my life, it’s an adventure, it’s a big deal for me.”
“I invited my brother to come on this flight because we’re the closest friends,” he added.
Jeff Bezo’s brother Mark Bezos also appeared in the video, saying that he was stunned when his brother asked him to go on the flight.
“I wasn’t even expecting him to say that he was going to be on the first flight,” Mark Bezos said in the video. “What a remarkable opportunity, not only to have this adventure but to do it with my best friend.”
Over 6,000 people from across the world have placed bids to join the Bezos brothers on the interstellar flight, with the highest bid reaching $2.8 million Monday morning. A live auction will be held June 12.
“The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, whose mission is to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and to help invent the future of life in space,” the company stated in a press release.
According to CNBC, the space company is focusing on a space tourism system called New Shepard, which is a rocket that carries a capsule to the edge of space. It has flown over twelve successful flights without humans.
The system has previously reached an altitude of over 340,000 feet, and is capable of carrying up to six people. The capsule features huge windows to give passengers incredible views and spends several minutes in zero gravity before traveling back to Earth.
Bezos, the former Amazon CEO, founded Blue Origin in 2000. The company’s first human launch will mark the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
