Spare ticket for spaceflight with Jeff Bezos auctioned for $28 million
Spare ticket for spaceflight with Jeff Bezos auctioned for $28 million
What would you pay to accompany Jeff Bezos on a jarring 11-minute trip into suborbital space? It is valued at $28 million, according to bidders in a Saturday auction.
The company launched the auction last month — before it was revealed that billionaire founder and Amazon mogul Bezos would be aboard New Shepard's inaugural crewed mission alongside his brother Mark Bezos.
Blue Origin sales director Ariane Cornell said during a livestream of the event that 7,600 people from 159 countries had registered and were able to bid in the auction, which was hosted by Boston-based RR Auction, on Saturday. The winning bidder's identity was not disclosed. The flight is scheduled to depart from Blue Origin's facilities in Van Horn, Texas, on July 20.
What is Blue Origin
Blue Origin is the rocket company founded by Bezos in 2000, has spent the better part of the last decade testing New Shepard, the 60-foot-tall rocket and capsule system. It will be the first time humans have flown aboard the fully autonomous New Shepard vehicle, following the company's 15 uncrewed test flights since 2015.
The company's ultimate goal is to sell tickets to the general public, offering brief but jarring trips to more than 62 miles above Earth in exchange for scenic views, a few minutes of weightlessness, and bragging rights. The 62-mile mark is the altitude at which the international community considers outer space to begin, though the US government believes it is closer to 50 miles. Throughout history, people have been considered astronauts — and been awarded metals, pins or "wings" — for traveling above either mark.
The proceeds from Saturday's auction will benefit Blue Origin's Club for the Future, an organization dedicated to promoting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education among young students. However, it served as a litmus test for the price that wealthy consumers would pay for a brief flight into the upper atmosphere.
The $28 million price tag is significantly higher than what Blue Origin's direct competitor, Virgin Galactic, has charged for tickets. Though Galactic has not yet flown paying passengers, the company has already sold approximately 600 tickets priced between $200,000 and $250,000.
However, it is significantly less than the cost of a more immersive spaceflight, such as the orbital trips being offered by Elon Musk's SpaceX, which will allow passengers to spend days orbiting the Earth or even stay aboard the International Space Station. The financial details of those planned trips have not been disclosed, but according to one government report, a SpaceX seat could cost up to $55 million — not including space station use fees.
In conclusion
A Blue Origin New Shepard rocket's flight profile is quite different from that of an orbital SpaceX rocket.
The suborbital flights of New Shepard reach approximately three times the speed of sound — approximately 2,300 miles per hour — and continue straight upward until the rocket exhausts the majority of its fuel. The crew capsule will then separate from the rocket at the top of the trajectory and briefly continue upward before the capsule almost hovers at the top of its flight path, giving the passengers a few minutes of weightlessness. It's similar to the sensation of weightlessness you get when you reach the top of a roller coaster hill, just before gravity drags your cart — or, in Bezos' case, his space capsule — screaming back down to the ground.
The New Shepard capsule then releases a massive plume of parachutes, slowing its descent to less than 20 miles per hour before impacting the ground.
Courses and Certification
Aerospace Engineering Course and Certificate
Amplifiers Course and Certificate
Aviation Management Course and Certificate
