Illustration by Lille Allen for Thrillist When 38-year-old father of two Austin Litteral entered an online giveaway promising a trip to space aboard Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s New Shepard rocket, he never expected to actually win.

Founded 25 years ago by Bezos, Blue Origin has been launching paying passengers to the edge of space since 2021, including himself. The short hops from Texas use smaller rockets named after the first American in space, Alan Shepard. New Glenn, which honors John Glenn, is five times taller.