A mystery person has paid $28m in an auction held on Saturday, for a seat on Jeff Bezos’s first crewed spaceflight by Jeff’s own company, Blue Origin. The company said that the winner’s identity would be revealed in the coming weeks.
The other two crew members of the 20 July flight are Mr Bezos’ brother Mark and an unnamed space tourist.
The bidding process attracted interest from more than 140 countries. After a nearly month, the top bid had stood at just under $5m, but once Saturday’s online auction got under way that figure rose more than five times.
“The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, @ClubforFuture,” Blue Origin tweeted.
“On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother,” Jeff wrote in a post on Instagram earlier this week. “The greatest adventure, with my best friend,” he added.
Mr Bezos’ brother Mark described this as a “remarkable opportunity”. The trip is expected to last just about 10 minutes.
According to Blue Origin’s website the company plans to launch its passengers more than 100km above the Earth’s surface, allowing them to experience microgravity. The six-berth capsule will return to Earth using parachutes.
The New Shepard booster can land vertically on the ground after returning from space. It is named after Alan Shepard, the second person and first US citizen to fly into space.
The first crewed flight comes just weeks after Mr Bezos plans to step down as CEO of Amazon.
He will serve as executive chairman of Amzozn which will give him “time and energy” to focus on other ventures.
Source: bbc.com