ORLANDO, Fla. – Blue Origin revealed someone is willing to fork over $2.8 million as the highest bid so far in its auction for a seat on the company’s first flight with humans on board.
Bidding began earlier this year for a seat on the New Shepard spacecraft. The company, founded by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, unsealed the bids Wednesday revealing the highest bidder is currently offering $2.8 million for the 10-minute flight. That’s about $280,000 per minute or $8,000 per second.
The price tag for the flight continues to increase as the highest offer was $1.4 million Wednesday morning about an hour prior to jumping above $2 million.
A spokesperson for the company confirmed the Blue Origin website is updating in real time showing the highest bid of the moment.
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A live auction is set for June 12 to decide the ultimate winner, with all proceeds to be donated to Club for the Future, a foundation meant to inspire kids to study science.
According to a letter from the IRS, Club for the Future was granted federal income tax-exempt status in April 2019 and is based in Kent, Washington, also the home of Blue Origin’s headquarters.
The New Shepard rocket and capsule are designed to fly six passengers into suborbital space.
Every astronaut on #NewShepard has a window seat. Bid for the very first seat at https://t.co/7Y4The9OmR pic.twitter.com/Itdb4wtX8e
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) May 21, 2021
Blue Origin plans to launch the crew on July 20 from its launch facility in Texas. That also marks the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
According to the company, more than 5,200 people have placed bids in the auction from 136 counties.
Registration for the auction ends at 5 p.m. on June 10.
While the New Shepard rocket flies to the edge of space and returns to land in Texas the company is also building a rockets outside NASA’s Kennedy Space Center gates. The mega rocket called New Glenn is also reusable and will launch for the first time next year from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
A sprawling 650,000-foot facility at KSC’s Exploration Park is home to Blue Origin’s rocket manufacturing facility and its launch and mission control centers.
New Glenn’s maiden flight from Florida is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2022.
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