Amazon Inc founder Jeff Bezos-founded aerospace manufacturing and sub-orbital spaceflight services company, Blue Origin LLC, has announced that it would start selling tickets for suborbital flights to the edge of space.
The first flight of "New Shepard" rocket is scheduled for July 20, and Blue Origin is auctioning off one single ticket to the highest bidder. Named after astronaut Alan Shepard, the second man and first American to go to space, New Shepard is Blue Origin’s reusable suborbital rocket system designed to take astronauts and research payloads into space.
The rocket is designed to carry up to six tourists per flight.
The online auction will be held in three parts -- The first phase, from May 5 to May 19, allows people to bid any amount on the website. After May 19, the bids will be unsealed, and on June 12, Blue Origin will hold a live auction to determine the winner.
The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and help invent the future of life in space.
On July 20th, #NewShepard will fly its first astronaut crew to space. We are offering one seat on this first flight to the winning bidder of an online auction. Anyone can place an opening bid by going to https://t.co/6DpTdTxo36. #GradatimFerociter pic.twitter.com/jBMFYX7xHg
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) May 5, 2021
The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and help invent the future of life in space.
It is to be noted that whoever places the winning bid won’t be the first tourist in space as Dennis Tito, a wealthy American businessman, became history's first space tourist. He reportedly paid $20 million for a seat on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to be the first tourist to visit the International Space Station (ISS).
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