Jeff Bezos Faces Criticism Over Cost Of Space Flight
After his Blue Origin rocket flight into space on Tuesday, Jeff Bezos announced that the company had already sold $100 million of tickets for passenger flights to space, which has added to criticism and more mixed reviews of his flight.
Speaking with CNBC before his flight, Bezos was asked how he felt about critics who accused him of creating “joyrides for the wealthy, and [who say] you should be spending your time and your money and energy trying to solve problems here on Earth.”
“Well, I say they are largely right, we have to do both. We have lots of problems here on Earth and we have to work on those,” Bezos responded.
This comes as critics took to Twitter and other platforms to criticize Bezos’ flight further because many felt it was an unnecessary use of his billions, which could be put to better use on Earth.
The price of “New Shepard” rocket tickets has remained a mystery, with the only hint of a price that was released coming when a ticket for one seat on the first flight was auctioned off for $28 million.
Now, there are plans for two more flights to space for Blue Origin on the passenger rocket. Specific dates for those missions have not been released.
Still, while many were critical of the money being spent, Bezos told CNBC that he thinks the work being done with his other rocket will have a positive impact on the Earth and future endeavors to help it.
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