Space flight is a “small step” in the Blue Origin plan

Jeff Bezos said Blue Origin’s first crewed space flight on Tuesday was a step in the company’s mission to expand to a point where people live and work in space.

“It’s a very small step of what Blue Origin is going to do. What we’re really trying to do is build reusable space vehicles. It’s the only way to build a road to space, and we need to build a road to space so that our children can build the future, ”Bezos told CNBC’s Morgan Brennan.

“If you want to be a space entrepreneur today, you have to do it all from the start. There is no real infrastructure at an affordable cost. So that’s what we need to do is build that kind of infrastructure and then future generations will have to rely on it, ”Bezos added.

Bezos flew as one of four passengers during the crew’s inaugural launch of his New Shepard rocket and capsule. Blue Origin founder Bezos sees New Shepard as a pioneer for his company’s other larger scale projects.

“This suborbital tourism mission allows us to train,” Bezos said. “We have to do it over and over and become as good at handling space vehicles as we are as a civilization at handling commercial airliners.”

Beyond his New Shepard space tourism rocket, his company is also working on a massive orbital rocket called the New Glenn, a stable of next-generation rocket engines, and a manned lunar lander. Bezos pointed out that “reusable space vehicles,” like New Shepard launching and landing, are key to Blue Origin’s goal.

Bezos pointed out that he now had more time to devote to his space business, which he founded in 2000.

“Since leaving the position of CEO of Amazon, I have a lot of time to devote to this vision. So I will be splitting my time between that and the Bezos Earth Fund, which is the foundation for climate sustainability.” , said Bezos. .

Additionally, his view from space on Tuesday gave Bezos a first glimpse of “how tiny the atmosphere on this planet is.”

“It’s really that little thing that sustains all of life. So we have to take all the polluting industries, all the heavy industries and move them out of the Earth. It could take decades, but that’s what we can do. “, added Bezos.

Floating inside New Shepard’s capsule for a few minutes in microgravity, Bezos said was a “beautiful” experience.

“It was so comfortable and natural,” Bezos said.

CNBC’s Brennan asked him if he “will do it again,” Bezos replied emphatically.

“Hell yeah!” said Bezos.