Finally tonight, today is considered the "best day ever" for Jeff Bezos, who blasted into space on board his own rocket.
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Blasting into space on the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Jeff Bezos made another record in human history, becoming the second billionaire to ride his own spacecraft and travel to space.
"2, 1."
And the rocket blasted off the ground right away.
He was accompanied by a handful of his friends: his brother, an 18-year-old student from the Netherlands and an 82-year-old aviation pioneer from Texas. They formed a group with the youngest and oldest to ever fly in space.
"A beautiful shot down the New Shepard rocket. Look at that view." Said the commentator.
Named after America's first astronaut, Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket blasted off into space on a date chosen by Bezos for its iconic place in history.
During today's flight, the capsule reached an altitude of about 66 miles, or 106 kilometers, 10 miles higher than the altitude reached by Branson's rocket. The capsule accelerated to 3 times the speed of sound in order to reach that altitude.
What's more, Bezos' capsule was completely automated and required no official staff on board.
Branson experienced several minutes of weightlessness during their flight. And likewise, Bezos also did the same. But this time, he was seen tossing Skittles candies and throwing balls while experiencing weightlessness, the highlight of this trip.
The Bezos brothers also joined their palms to display a "HI MOM" greeting written on their hands.
Then the touchdown came.
His family members and children were all smiles as Bezos embraced his parents, partners and children with wide grins after climbing out of the capsule. Bottles of sparkling wine were popped open to celebrate this remarkable journey.
Speaking to NBC news after the flight, Bezos mentioned his company's plan to literally build a road from the earth to space for the world's future pillars.
"This is the first step. This is a tiny little step of what Blue Origin is gonna do. And what we're really trying to do is build reusable space vehicles. This is the only way to build a road to space. And we need to build a road to space so that our children can build the future." Said Jeff Bezos.
Having achieved one of his biggest goals on his bucket list, Jeff Bezos can now officially check mark that box off his bucket list, and is now literally a heavy hitter.
The world today witnessed another person completing his dream.
Jeff Bezos said while sharing something personal about him that he spared no expense in making his dream of going to space come true. And despite the curveballs life throws and all the obstacles, all's well that ends well - having worked hard for decades, he really blazed a trail in space tourism and finally got his wish.
Unlike Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin's way to success was much longer. After 15 successful unoccupied test flights to space since 2015, Bezos finally declared it was time to put people on board. Only after those flight did the Federal Aviation Administration approve the commercial space licence for it.
While people everywhere are saying the flight was wonderful and talking about those fortunate enough to be on board, Branson, whom many consider Bezos' nemesis in space tourism, concurred as he sent a congratulatory tweet, describing the flight as impressive.
Blue Origin is working on a massive rocket, New Glenn, to put payloads and people into orbit from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Hailed as a success, today's flight means the world is one step closer to opening the door to space tourism.
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