Blue Origin lands as Amazon founder returns from stellar voyage

The four experienced a brief period of weightlessness on flight, which lasted ten minutes and ten seconds, whooping and cheering as they floated in orbit for a period of around three minutes.

Mr Bezos, 57, said he was “happy, happy, happy” as the vehicle floated above the earth.

The flight was two decades in the making for Mr Bezos, a long time space fanatic and fan of Star Trek, who founded Blue Origin in 2000.

The company’s rocket, New Shepard, had made 15 previous flights prior to today’s launch, but it was its first including a crew complement.

On board, Blue Origin took Ms Funk, making history as the oldest person in space. She originally trained to be an astronaut in the 1960s, but along with female applicants was rejected despite passing all Nasa’s tests.

They also took Mr Daemen, a Dutch student who was gifted the place after the mystery winner of a $28m auction for a ticket pulled out due to a “scheduling” conflict.

With only a small delay, the rocket took off at 2.15pm UK time, 8.15pm in Texas. It accelerated to 2,223mph, before reaching an apogee of 347,563 feet. 

It crossed the so-called Karman line, considered to be the boundary of space by international space agencies.