Jeff Bezos space launch: Latest updates as Amazon founder launched into space on Blue Origin rocket

The four have left their vehicle for some photo opportunities ahead of climbing into the rocket itself.

(And now they’ve got back in to actually go to the launchpad.)

Wally Funk is leading the crew up to the rocket. (And Mark Bezos appears to be wearing a cowboy hat.) They’ll be climbing into the Blue Origin rocket imminently.

On the live stream, commentators are stressing how key the New Shepherd rocket is to the one that will follow it: New Glenn. That bigger rocket is set to start testing soon and will use much of the work from its predecessor, with the rocket being a scaled up version and the technology that helps it land vertically informing the work on New Glenn.

(Both New Shepherd and New Glenn are named after aerospace pioneers. Interestingly, New Glenn is named after the late John, who is the oldest person in space until 82-year-old Wally Funk makes her journey today.)

The four passengers are waiting in the “astronaut safety shelter”, which is at the other end of the bridge. That’s a fireproof and much else -proof room that the astronauts are able to hide in if anything goes wrong.

(I said earlier it was Mark in the cowboy hat; it seems that it was actually Jeff.)

The four passengers have now climbed through the hatch and into their cabin. They’ll then start checking that everything is working in the spacecraft before it takes off.

There’s just over half an hour left before launch.

The team at mission control are now preparing for launch.

That’s everyone required to launch the rocket, though there are some support crew in Washington State if anything goes wrong. Blue Origin is autonomous, so it will be all of those people who are in charge of pressing the buttons to make things happen, not the passengers inside the rocket.

All of the astronauts have their link to mission control, as has just been confirmed in a test. (It sounds like Wally Funk had some trouble, and had to be told to “press the button” so that she could communicate.)

With 20 minutes to go until launch, the door has been closed and the passengers are sealed inside.

With 15 minutes to go, mission control reads out a message from Christina, the other Bezos, to her two brothers Mark and Jeff who are currently locked inside the capsule.

“Steve and I are so excited for this monumental launch,” the message reads. “Jeff, this is something you’ve dreamed of your whole life, and your passion for space is infectious.”

She talks about how the three would pretend they were in star trek (presumably when they were children).

“Now hurry up and get your asses back down here so I can give you a huge hug. We love you, and Godspeed New Shepherd.”

For the last three minutes, the mission has been on “hold”, and the countdown has stopped counting. So there’s 15 minutes until launch – but we’re waiting for that countdown for 15 minutes to start again.