Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, decided to travel to the launch pad of the New Shepard aboard what will be Rivian’s new electric SUV . The R1S – that follows the R1T, Rivian’s first electric pickup – is one of the few prototypes in existence that had only been tested by a few company employees. up to this historical moment.
The journey of the Blue Origin astronauts in the future Rivian model, however, does not represent an isolated event. The emerging automotive company, specialized in electric mobility, will now be driven by a large investment from Amazon which amounts to $ 700 millions, as reported by NBC News. This investment also involves the order of 100, 000 units that will become part of Amazon’s Prime delivery fleet, projecting Rivian towards the future hand in hand with another nascent industry: space tourism.
After several years of testing since 2015, the manned version of the New Shepard, the rocket developed by Blue Origin, left this Tuesday morning , making Bezos and three other crew members part of the first suborbital trip by civilians, a trip the company plans to repeat at least two more times this year. The feat, which only lasted 10 minutes, it was carried out without any incident, leaving the billionaire and his companions in awe despite the short time.
With the launch of the New Shepard – preceded by Richard Branson’s flight aboard the VSS Unity, the space plane of your company Virgin Galactic – a new window opens in the transport of the future, a window that is undoubtedly preceded by the incredible transformation of the automotive industry, every time more concerned with achieving complete electrification in favor of the environment. Of this transformation, Rivian has represented one of the most interesting proposals, becoming a strong contender for other brands such as Ford and Tesla with its launches this year: the F – 150 Lightning, a completely electric truck and the Cibertruck, another electric pickup whose production is scheduled for the end of this year .
Short suborbital trips, which until a month ago were only science fiction, have now become reality and are very likely to become a tourist option , although reserved for the most powerful: the flight in the Branson space plane cost $ 194, 000 on 2014 and this price was exceeded by the New Shepard, which auctioned one of its seats for $ 28 million, as reported by CNET.
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