Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launched six people into space on Thursday, including the first from Egypt and Portugal, on the company’s sixth manned flight.
For the N-22 mission, the New Shepard suborbital missile was launched at approximately 8:58 a.m. local time (1358 GMT) from Blue’s base in the west Texas desert.
The autonomous, reusable vehicle sent its crew capsule across the Karman Line, the internationally recognized space frontier, 62 miles (100 kilometers) above sea level.
“I’m floating!” A crew member could be heard livestreaming as the capsule coasted to its highest point and passengers experienced a few minutes of weightlessness.
Both the rocket and the capsule returned to base separately – the latter using huge parachutes – and completed the mission about 11 minutes after launch.
The crew included Egyptian engineer Sara Sabry and Portuguese entrepreneur Mario Ferreira, both of their countries’ first people to leave Earth.
This included Coby Cotton, one of five co-founders of the YouTube sports and comedy channel Dude Perfect, which has more than 57 million followers.
A spokeswoman for Blue Origin confirmed that all six crew members were paying passengers – although Sabry’s seat was sponsored by non-profit organization Space for Humanity.
Blue Origin has not disclosed its ticket prices.
Previous flights have featured celebrity guests who have flown free, including Star Trek legend William Shatner.
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