Two weeks before his historic flight, Bezos will step down as Amazon CEO, motivated in part by his desire to devote more time to the space business.Д«ezos, a sci-fi fan since childhood, has an Interstellar-esque hope for humankindвЂ™s future in space. Only in the past several years, as Blue Origin has begun to publicize its work, have more people come to associate Bezos with space travel. Few knew it even existed until a few years later, when Bezos started buying land in Texas for a launch facility.

When Blue Origin was founded, Amazon was crawling out from the implosion of the dot-com bubble, and Bezos, the 48th-richest person in the world at the time, bankrolled the new venture with millions of dollars from his personal fortune. For two decades, these space billionaires have been talking about dreamy and urgent reasons for exploring space, but their first step off Earth is turning a visit to space into the ultimate status symbol. Bezos wouldnвЂ™t be the first rich person to buy their way to space-the first space tourist flew in 2001, paying some $20 million for the experience-but he could easily take the ride again, just because he liked it.

NASA is no longer the most exciting name in the game, and the refrain ad astra-вЂњto the starsвЂќ-carries a bit more emphasis on the ad. This is the reality of modern human spaceflight. SpaceX is the only one of the three companies that has moved beyond test flights, and regularly flies NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. Musk has been uncharacteristically silent during this little spectacle, but he could certainly chime in. No word yet on whether Elon Musk, who also founded his spaceflight company, SpaceX, about two decades ago, plans to hop on a Falcon 9 rocket and beat them both.

(Virgin Galactic, when asked about Branson, didnвЂ™t deny the possibility.) VirginвЂ™s space plane recently carried two pilots to the edge of space, and itвЂ™s ready to fly more. Branson also founded his spaceflight company, Virgin Galactic, in the early 2000s. Not to be outdone, Richard Branson is reportedly considering taking a ride on his spacecraft in July too, about two weeks before BezosвЂ™s flight. In the short time from takeoff to touchdown, Bezos, the richest man in the world, would become the first person to fly on his own rocket to space.Д«ut of course, Bezos is not the only space billionaire out there. The Bezos brothers will travel just beyond the edge of space, experience a few minutes of weightlessness, and then return to Earth in a parachute landing in the West Texas desert. Their trip-what Bezos calls the вЂњgreatest adventureвЂќ-is scheduled for July on Blue OriginвЂ™s New Shepard rocket, named in honor of Alan Shepard, the first American to go to space.

вЂњI really want you to come with me,вЂќ he says. Bezos, wearing a cowboy hat and aviators, drink in hand, smiles at his brother, Mark. He shared the news this week on Instagram, in a high-production video set to heartfelt music, with one dramatic, made-for-camera moment. But by now youвЂ™ve probably heard, because Bezos wants everyone to know: Blue Origin is sending passengers to space, and heвЂ™s going on the inaugural trip himself. You may not have known that, because Blue Origin spent years developing its rocket technology in secret. Jeff Bezos founded his spaceflight company two decades ago, at the turn of the millennium.

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