Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of amazon.com, unveiled the prototype of his much-anticipated spaceship yesterday — although with a range of 85 metres it could be some time before the project launches properly.

Mr Bezos has been working on the project since 2000, during which time he has kept developments shrouded in secrecy.

Yesterday, he lifted the veil by posting pictures of the rocket’s test launch on November 13, about 193 kilometres east of El Paso in Texas.

The prototype, which is called Goddard after the father of modern rocket propulsion, Robert Hutchings Goddard, comprises a cone-shaped vehicle with four metal legs and looks like something from a 1950s science-fiction film.

But over the next three years, Mr Bezos hopes to have developed the model into a spacecraft capable of taking ordinary people into space.

Speaking on the Blue Origin website on which the launch pictures have been posted, Mr Bezos said: “We’re working, patiently and step by step, to lower the cost of space flight so that many people can afford to go and so that we humans can better continue exploring the solar system.

“Accomplishing this mission will take a long time, and we’re working on it methodically. Slow and steady is the way to achieve results, and we do not kid ourselves into thinking this will get easier as we go along.”

Mr Bezos said he was looking for 15 staff to help to develop the space craft, including an experienced aerospace engineer, a propulsion engineer and turbomachinery engineers.

Times Recommends

• C&G axed - 1,660 jobs to be lost
• UK house prices rise 1.1% as buyers return
• Mixed reaction to US banks repaying bailouts