A representative from Amazon introduces to visitors on how to start e-commerce businesses overseas at the 2021 international e-commerce expo in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang Province. Photo: Yu Xi/GT

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced plans on Monday to fly into space in July on a rocket built by his company Blue Origin, fulfilling what he said was a lifelong dream.

The 57-year-old billionaire said he and his brother Mark will blast off from Earth on July 20 on the first crewed flight of the company's New Shepard launch vehicle.

Blue Origin is auctioning off the third seat in the spacecraft and bidding is already at $3.2 million with thousands of participants from around the world.

"I want to go on this flight because it's a thing I've wanted to do all my life," Bezos said in a video statement.

He said he had invited his brother to join him "because we're closest friends."

"To see the Earth from space, it changes you," Bezos said. "It changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity. It's one Earth."

The trip will last a total of 10 minutes, four of which passengers will spend above the Karman line that marks the recognized boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space.

After lift-off, the capsule separates from its booster, then spends four minutes at an altitude exceeding 100 kilometers, during which time those on board experience weightlessness and can observe the curvature of Earth from space.

New Shepard has successfully carried out more than a dozen uncrewed test runs from its facility in the Guadalupe Mountains of west Texas.

The reusable suborbital rocket system was named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space 60 years ago.