IN 1968, PAN AM started taking reservations for a shuttle to the moon. By the time the programme was discontinued three years later, more than 90,000 signatures had been collected. The stunt ignited the dream that civilians could travel into space, but it took reality 53 years to catch up when, in July, Sir Richard Branson and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos each became a passenger aboard his own respective spacecraft. Upping the ante last month, 38-year-old billionaire Jared Isaacman, founder of Shift4 Payments and an accomplished pilot, captained a multi-day orbital expedition aboard Elon Musk’s Crew Dragon capsule, helmed by four civilians and zero professional astronauts. The name of the mission: Inspiration4.
Surging with adrenaline after returning from his 10-minute rocket ride aboard New Shepard, Bezos likened space tourism to the barnstorming pilots of a century ago. “We’re selling a few rides here and there, but it will eventually lead to the equivalent of flying 787s,” he said. “We’re in the first small steps of something big.”
This story is from the October 2021 edition of Robb Report Singapore.
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This story is from the October 2021 edition of Robb Report Singapore.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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