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Auction House Bidder Pays US$28 Million for a Ride into Space

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Auction House Bidder Pays US$28 Million for a Ride into Space

An auction house has received a winning bid of US$28 million for a ride into space next month alongside Jeff Bezos and his brother. The ride into space next month is to honor NASA’s first space flight under the project Gemini program.

The Amazon founder’s rocket company, Blue Origin, did not disclose the winner’s name following the live online auction. The identity will be revealed in a couple weeks a Blue Origin spokesperson reported.

The spaceflight will mark the 52nd anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s moon landing during project Gemini program that started in 1961.

It will be the first launch of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket with people on board, kicking off the company’s space tourism business. Fifteen previous test flights of the reusable rocket and capsule since 2015 — short hops lasting about 10 minutes — were all successful.

Saturday’s auction house followed more than a month of online bidding that reached $4.8 million by Friday. More than 7,500 people from 159 countries registered to bid, according to Blue Origin. More than 20 bidders — the high rollers — took part in Saturday’s auction house. The announcement also set off frenzy of people seeking to buy Blue Origin stock. Blue origin is presently a private company and Bezos hasn’t said yet if he will take it public.

Bezos announced Monday that he and his younger brother, Mark, would be on board New Shepard’s first crew flight; the news quickly boosted bidding. The winning amount is being donated to Blue Origin’s Club for the Future, an educational effort to promote science and tech among young people.

The completely automated capsule can carry up to six passengers, each with their own big window. Blue Origin’s top sales director, Ariane Cornell, said following the auction that the fourth and final seat on the debut crew flight will be announced soon.

Blue Origin has yet to open online ticket sales to the public or divulge prices.

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