Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Auctioning Off Ticket to First Space Tourism Flight
Written by SOURCE on May 6, 2021
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company is taking bids for a trip of a lifetime.
On Wednesday, the aerospace manufacturer announced it was auctioning off a single seat for its first-ever space tourism trip aboard the New Shepard. The five-week public auction is divided into three separate phases; the first of which is a sealed online auction that runs through May 19. The second phase will kick off immediately after and will allow participants to place unsealed, public bids of any amount. The third and final round will be a live auction on June 12—about five weeks before the commercial passenger mission.
Proceeds from the auction will go toward Blue Origin’s Club for the Future, a nonprofit that helps youth explore and pursue careers in the STEM field.
According to CNN, Blue Origin’s New Shepard can carry up to six individuals. The company has not revealed the names of the other passengers or the prices they paid to secure a ticket for the historic trip; but according to a 2018 Reuters report, Bezos planned to charge passengers between $200,000 to $300,000 per seat.
According to a Blue Origin press release, the New Shepard has completed over a dozen consecutive missions to space and back. The July 20 trip will be the first time the spacecraft—named after Alan Shepard—will launch with a crew and passengers onboard.
“This seat will change how you see the world,” the company wrote. You can learn more about the auction, including how to register, at the Blue Origin website.
