Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has launched a three-phase auction for the New Shepard rocket’s first flight on June 20. The $ 2.8 million bid you see above belongs only to the winner of the first sitting. In the next two auctions, probably more will be paid for an 11-minute ascent to suborbital space on 20 July, to seeing Earth slope, a short experience of weightlessness in space, and parachute landing. We continue feverishly to watch space wars of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson…
Jeff Bezos‘ company, Blue Origin, had announced on April 29 that the company will auction for a seat in the space tourism vehicle New Shepard. The highest bidder at the end of the three-phase auction will be owner of crew’s one of six seat that will go into space with New Shepard on July 20. The second and third phases of the auction, the first of which was sealed bidding and there were more than 5,200 applicants from 136 countries bid for tickets, will be held as unsealed bidding. Bezos seems to have designed this system to intensify competition, with $ 2.8 million from the first phase.
The auction continues for six people going to space. The seat retails for $2.8 million
Another reason for the auction is to find out the amount that people are willing to pay for rocket travel. Because space tourism is a very new concept, it is not yet determined what the standard ticket price will be when regular travels begin. Since Russia halted space tourism, nobody has been going to space with paying money for 12 years.
The highest bidder at the end of the three-phase auction will be on the one of crew’s six seat that will go into space with New Shepard on July 20.
The second phase started on May 19 and will end on June 10. Ultimately, the lucky person will be determined with at last auction on June 12th. After the first phase, Blue Origin Astronaut Sales Director Ariane Cornell emphasized the importance of the rocket experience, “To date, only 569 people have traveled more than 100 kilometers from Earth. We’re about to change that dramatically,” as said.
Blue Origin Vice President Audrey Powers 
The proceeds from the sale will be donated to Jeff Bezos’ foundation Club for the Future.
The rocket takes its name from Alan Shepard, the first US astronaut to go into space with the Project Mercury Freedom 7 capsule in 1961. There is no clear information, but it is spoken about Jeff Bezos could also take part in the flight. This rumor seems to be one of the factors that raised the price, which as you assume that it was raised on purpose.
11-Minute Life Experience
The take-off will take place from the desert launching area in Texas. Blue Origin had completed 15 unmanned test flights so far. The six-seat rocket will soar vertically up to 100 kilometers, which is considered the limit of space, and go into suborbital space. The passengers in the capsule, which will return to the world by parachute without reaching the orbit, will see the curved shape of the earth and experience a brief gravity-free experience, even if in a short time. “This seat will change your perspective to world,” said Jeff Bezos; he also added that proceeds from sales will be donated to Club for the Future, the foundation that aims to direct future generations to science. So the story goes that Blue Origin will make several more flight into space by the end of 2021.
Blue Origin had started prototype engine and capsule testing in 2006. Engine development studies was completed in 2010-2015. While Blue Origin was planning make its first crewed New Shepard flight in 2019, the flight was postponed until this summer.
What About Elon Musk and Richard Branson?
The SN15 prototype of the space shuttle Starship, which Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX is planning to send to Mars, made its first successful landing on May 5. Whilst SN15 crashed in trials in December 2020 and February 2021, it exploded on flights on 3 March and 6 April. The SN15, which soared to about 10 kilometers, managed to land on the ground 6 minutes after launch. The Starship is planned to be used for a manned journey to Mars. Elon Musk’s claim is beyond to space tourism, to establish a self-sufficient colony on Mars! Space X was also working in partnership with NASA on a mission to carry two astronauts to do scientific research on the Moon, in 2024. However, the deal was halted due to objection of Blue Origin and Dynetics. The reason is that “Space X trying to monopolize space studies”. The decision of NASA on this issue is awaited impatiently.
Elon Musk’s claim is beyond to space tourism, to establish a self-sufficient colony on Mars!
Another crazy and billionaire businessperson, Richard Branson, continues his space tourism studies with Virgin Galactic. The new generation VSS Imagine will soar to 110 kilometers and will give its passengers 6 unforgettable minutes in a gravity-free environment. In VSS Imagine, which is scheduled to start with tours in 2022, a seat will retail for around $ 250,000.
