A high bid of $28 million won the auction for a seat aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket trip to the edge of space in July, the company announced Saturday.
The high bidder in the monthlong auction would be revealed in the upcoming weeks, it tweeted, and will be joined by Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos and his brother, Mark, for the ride scheduled on July 20.
Though the Blue Origin rocket-propelled capsule can handle six passengers, this trip will be for four, and a fourth rider will also be announced at a later time, the company said.
The bid money will go to Blue Origin’s nonprofit Club for the Future, which aims to teach children about space and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“What a day,” said Ariane Cornell, director of astronaut and orbital sales at Blue Origin, at the conclusion of the auction. “The whole Blue Origin team cannot wait to meet our first customer.”
The New Shepard rocket and capsule, which flies autonomously, will go to suborbital space at an altitude of more than 62 miles above Earth. Passengers will experience a few minutes of weightlessness before it touches down back on Earth with the help of parachutes.
Blue Origin plans to eventually sell tickets to this private flight to the edge of space, likely at a cost of several hundreds of thousands of dollars.
