Former NFL star Michael Strahan lifted off from a field in west Texas and headed into space this morning on billionaire Jeff Bezos’ New Shepard rocket.

The Good Morning America co-anchor, former New York Giant and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee will hover more than 60 miles above the earth, along with five other passengers, including Laura Shepard Churchley, daughter of astronaut Alan Shepard, for whom the Blue Origin rocket is named.

Shepard went on a suborbital flight in 1961, becoming the first American to travel into space. A decade later, he walked on the moon.