How long does it take to get into space? Time it took Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin crew to go beyond Karman line

The rocket lifted off at 2.15pm UK time, taking off from Blue Origin's Launch Site One in West Texas
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The owner of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, has landed safely after jetting off into space on a private flight.

The rocket, named Blue Origin, sent Bezos and its three crew members up towards space on Tuesday (20 July).

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But how long did the journey take? Here’s what you need to know.

The rocket lifted off at 2.15pm UK time, taking off from Blue Origin's Launch Site One in West Texas (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)The rocket lifted off at 2.15pm UK time, taking off from Blue Origin's Launch Site One in West Texas (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The rocket lifted off at 2.15pm UK time, taking off from Blue Origin's Launch Site One in West Texas (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

How long did Jezz Bezos’ flight into space take him?

The rocket lifted off at 2.15pm UK time, taking off from Blue Origin's Launch Site One in West Texas.

The spacecraft travelled to an altitude of over 107km, going above the Karman line and briefly into space just a couple of minutes later. It landed safely back on earth just under 11 minutes later.

The Karman line is set at what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) calls “an imaginary boundary” which is 62 miles up, or roughly a hundred kilometers above sea level.

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Bezos was joined on the maiden crewed flight of Blue Origin by his brother Mark, 82-year-old Wally Funk, a former engineer who will become the oldest person in space, and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen, a student who was gifted his spot on the flight.

The Amazon owner thanked the Blue Origin staff and the community of Van Horn in West Texas, where he acknowledged his company's arrival had "made a dent", before going on to thank Amazon employees and staff for contributing financially to his spaceflight.

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Who else has recently been to space?

Bezos’ trip comes after fellow billionaire Sir Richard Branson successfully reached the edge of space on board his Virgin Galactic rocket plane on 11 July.

The UK entrepreneur flew high above New Mexico in the US in the vehicle that his company has been developing for 17 years.

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He returned safely to Earth just over an hour after leaving the ground.

At the time, Branson said the trip was an "experience of a lifetime".

Tesla owner Elon Musk is also gearing up to launch SpaceX into orbit, with the launch of a prototype model of its vessel, the first full flight of the ship and its booster all expected sometime in the second half of this year.

This could prove a big step forward for SpaceX’s ship, which was first unveiled in 2017 under the name ‘BFR’.

It is a fully reusable vessel designed to send over 100 tons or 100 people into space at a time.

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