Jeff Bezos Launches to Space aboard New Shepard Rocket Ship

Billionaire Jeff Bezos has made a brief journey to space, within the first crewed flight of his rocket ship, New Shepard.

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

They travelled during a capsule with the most important windows flown in space, offering stunning views of the world.

When the capsule touched backtrack after the 10-minute, 10-second flight, Jeff Bezos exclaimed: "Best day ever!"

New Shepard, built by Bezos' company Blue Origin, is meant to serve the burgeoning marketplace for space tourism.

Amazon founder Mr Bezos - and other participants within the "billionaire space race" - are criticised for offering what some see as joy rides for the super-wealthy. Critics say the cash might be spent on pay rises for workers or fighting global climate change.

However, Mr Bezos insists he has an environmental vision: "We got to take all heavy industry, all polluting industry and move it into space, and keep Earth as this beautiful gem of a planet that it’s," he told MSNBC.

"It's getting to take decades and decades to realize , but you've got to start out , and large things start with small steps... that is what this sub-orbital tourism mission allows us to try to to , it allows us to practice over and over."