Blue Origin concluded the online auction for the first seat on their New Shepard rocket with a winning bid of $28 million. Nearly 7,600 people registered to bid from 159 countries, the company said.
The winning bidder will fly to space on New Shepard’s first human flight on July 20, and will join Blue Origin founder, Jeff Bezos, and his brother, Mark.
The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, whose mission is to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and to help invent the future of life in space.
Blue Origin says the name of the auction winner will be released in the coming weeks. Then, the fourth and final crew member will be announced.