Bids to become the first paying customer on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin spacecraft in July hits $2.8 million – and there’s still three weeks until the auction ends

• The top bid for a seat on the space flight was $2.8 million as of late Thursday
• The identity of the top bidder will be unveiled next month when bidding ends 
• Bidding for the trip ends on June 12 after a multi-faceted auction
• The company is only offering one seat on the first flight of the New Shephard rocket   
• The flight is expected to send six passengers at a time into orbit
• The passengers of the flight will spend at least 10 minutes floating in zero gravity inside the capsule

Bidding to be the first paying customer on the New Shephard rocket from Blue Origin approached $3 million on Thursday, with additional bids to be placed in the coming days. 

According to the company’s website, the highest bid is $2.8 million, up from $2.4 million on Wednesday.

The identity of the top bidder is not yet known and will not be known until bidding has stopped next month. 

A company spokesperson told DailyMail.com on Thursday it had no further updates to share regarding the number of bidders or where they were from. 

On Wednesday, DailyMail.com reported Blue Origin has already seen ‘more than 5,200 bidders from 136 countries.’ 

The highest bid to ride on the New Shepard rocket is now $2.8 million,  after surpassing $2 million on Wednesday

Blue Origin is largely self funded by Bezos, who has been selling over $1 billion worth of stock in Amazon to fund the company 

Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin in September 2000. It now has more than 3,500 employees

The first phase of bidding, which were sealed and processed online, was conducted between May 5 and May 19. 

From now until June 10, the second phase, the bidding will occur unsealed and online for everyone to see. 

Bidding concludes on June 12 with a live online auction, with participants raising their bid limit by June 10 at 5 PM EDT. 

Earlier this month, the company announced that it would take the unnamed customer to the edge of space on July 20.   

‘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 [science, technology, engineering and math] and help invent the future of life in space,’ the company said in the May 5 announcement. 

Blue Origin named the New Shepard program after astronaut Alan Shepard, who was the first American to fly into space exactly 60 years ago.  

Scroll down for videos 

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin will take its first paying customer to the edge of space on July 20, the firm announced on May 5. The aerospace company is conducting an online auction for one seat aboard its New Shepard rocket, in which will be awarded to the highest bidder 

Previous news had suggested Bezos was set to announcing pricing per ticket, but instead is offering one seat through an auction.

No other details have been provided on training or the process in which the winner will endure prior to launching into orbit. 

Blue Origin, founded in 2000, touts itself as means to provide cheaper access to space through the use of reusable rockets, specifically the New Shepard that has flown 15 times.

The rocket’s sole mission is to take tourists to space, who would travel inside a sleek, white capsule atop the vehicle. 

The capsule is designed with the iconic Blue Origin feather across the exterior and inside are six reclining seats that mirror those inside a helicopter

The capsule is designed with the iconic Blue Origin feather across the exterior and inside are six reclining seats that mirror those inside a helicopter.

Blue Origin’s plans are to send tourists 62 miles above Earth’s surface and spend at least 10 minutes in orbit.

At this altitude, passengers will experience weightlessness due to the zero gravity and see the curve of the planet with the darkness of space as the backdrop.

Blue Origin also recently conducted its first astronaut rehearsal in preparation for sending the first manned New Shepard into space.

The mock crew traveled the designated path of future spacefaring tourists, which included traveling to the launch pad and climbing up the tower to the passenger capsule. 

While celebrities and the uber-rich appear to be a core market for space tourist jaunts, at least initially, industry sources expect Blue Origin to include some philanthropic component to its ticket strategy.

The idea of sending paying customers to the edge of space was once only a plot in science fiction films, but many companies other than Blue Origin are turning the epic journey into a reality.

The news comes just six days after Blue Origin teased tickets would soon go on sale in a video shared to Twitter, which stated ‘Details coming May 5′

A college science professor and an aerospace data analyst are among a four-member crew for a launch into orbit planned later this year by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, part of a charity drive billed as the first all-civilian spaceflight in history.

Virgin Galactic also aims to fly private customers in early 2022, after a first flight with Branson on board later this year.

Its zero-gravity experience is anchored by its SpaceShipTwo plane, and the company has ambitious plans to offer point-to-point travel between far-flung cities at near-space altitudes.

Virgin says it will charge more than $250,000 for new reservations but has not announced final pricing. Sales will reopen following Branson’s flight.

Source: Read Full Article