Someone with deep pocket just shell out$28 millionto fly to space with Jeff Bezos , the robust man on Earth , on Blue Origin ’s first crewed escape of its New Shepard suborbital fomite . regrettably , we do n’t yet know who the mystery bidder is , although Blue Origin foretell we ’ll find out in a few weeks .
Last month , Blue Origin announced that it would auctioneer off a seat on its first crew flight , whichwill include Bezos , the party ’s founding father , as well as his brother Mark Bezos . The online auction had three phases , and the process concluded with a resilient vendue on Saturday . Blue Origin said that the $ 28 million pull ahead bid amount will be donate to its cornerstone , Club for the Future , which drive to promote STEM career among next generations and “ help invent the future of sprightliness in space . ”
About 7,600 people from 159 commonwealth register to bid on the open seat , the company said in anews proclamation .
The view from space on Blue Origin’s 15 January 2025 flight.Photo:Blue Origin
Ariane Cornell , Blue Origin ’s theatre director of astronaut and orbital sale , foretell the gain bid from the alive auction . Cornell thanked the winner and said that $ 28 million would help the foundation enliven a mint of kids .
“ The whole Blue Origin team can not hold off to forgather our first customer . They ’re go away to join Jeff Bezos and his chum Mark on this historical human flight on New Shepard in just five weeks . July 20th is going to be an experience of a lifetime , ” Cornell say . “ To say that we are humbled is an unbelievable understatement . ”
The identicalness of the person who placed the get ahead bid is n’t the only affair shroud in closed book at this clock time . Blue Origin ’s inaugural gang will let in four passengers — although the capsulecan oblige up to six , it has no cowcatcher — and the party has n’t announced who the 4th passenger will be yet . On Saturday , Blue Origin stated that the name of the fourth and last crew member would be announced in the coming weeks .
The New Shepard flight willnot go into Earth orbit , but rather the region slightly beyond the Kármán Line , a boundary at an ALT exceeding 62 miles ( 100 kilometre ) that technically specify as suborbital blank space . The crew will spend about 11 minutes in blank , allowing passengers to live a few moments of weightlessness , before coming back to Earth .
Bezos ’ Blue Origin is not the only company eyeing blank space touristry . Fellow billionaires Richard Branson and Elon Musk are also in the race . Musk , who leads SpaceX , plans to launch an all - civilian crew to space via the company’sDragon spacecraftlater this year . Branson , meanwhile , is expected to fly into space on theVSS Unityin one of Virgin Galactic ’s examination flights sometime this yr as well . Virgin Galactic intends to start commercial serving inearly 2022 .
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