Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will fly to space on July 20 on his space exploration company Blue Origin's first human space flight.
In a post on Instagram, Bezos said he, his brother Mark Bezos, and the winner of an ongoing auction, will be aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft during its scheduled launch on July 20.
"Ever since I was five years old, I've dreamed of travelling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother," Bezos said in the Instagram post.
July 20 is the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The trip will be a brief hop to space from Texas.
In February, Bezos said he was stepping down from the role of CEO of Amazon to focus on his other passions, including Blue Origin.
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"To see the Earth from space, it changes you, 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," Bezos can be heard as saying in the video post.
In the video, Bezos can be seen asking his brother to accompany him on the flight.
The auction for an open seat on New Shepard ends Saturday. The winning bid currently stands at $2.8 million, with almost 6,000 participants from 143 countries.
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.
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