New Shepard blasts off

66 miles (106 km) was the altitude Blue Origin was shooting for

60-foot (18 m) booster accelerated to Mach 3 or three times the speed of sound to get the capsule high enough, before separating and aiming for a vertical landing.

15 successful unoccupied test flights to space since 2015

Bezos’ space voyage

Jeff Bezos was accompanied by Mark Bezos, his brother, Wally Funk, an 82-year-old pioneer of the space race, and an 18-year-old student.

They travelled in a capsule with the biggest windows flown in space, offering stunning views of the Earth.

New Shepard, built by Bezos’ company Blue Origin, is designed to serve the burgeoning market for space tourism.

The passengers included the oldest person who has been to space – Ms Funk – and the youngest, student Oliver Daemen.

The spacecraft lifted off from a private launch site near Van Horn, Texas. They parachuted back down to the West Texas desert 11 minutes later.