Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Puts Up Its First Spaceflight Ticket For Sale
Image via Blue Origin
Last month, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced that his space venture, Blue Origin, would begin selling tickets for interstellar rides to space.
Now, Blue Origin is offering one seat on the inaugural flight of its suborbital rocket, New Shepard, which will launch July 20.
However, instead of a regular fixed-price ticket, the seat will be awarded to the highest bidder. Starting yesterday till May 19, the public will be able to place their bids (of any amount) on the auction site.
On May 19, the bids will be “unsealed,” or made public, so bidders can continually bid against each other to secure top spot. Come June 12, the final day, there’ll be a live online auction so interested fliers can wage against one another in real-time.
According to TechCrunch, the interstellar flight itself looks pretty quick, with New Shepard expected to reach its highest point just four minutes after takeoff. The capsule, in which the highest bidder will be seated, will land 10 minutes after takeoff near the launch site in West Texas.
At a media briefing, Blue Origin’s Director of Astronaut Sales Ariane Cornell said crew members will need to head to the launch site four days before takeoff for three full days of training.
The capsule itself will be pressurized, so spacesuits won’t be necessary. In the case of a mishap, an “escape motor” built into the rocket will get the capsule (and people inside) away from the booster, Cornell explained.
Blue Origin has said it plans to donate proceeds from the winning bid to its charitable foundation, Club for the Future. Opening bids can be placed here.
[via TechCrunch, cover image via Blue Origin]
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