In an Instagram post made by Amazon.com’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Jeff Bezos, he and his brother Mark reveal that they’ll be joining the Blue Origin (BORGN) winner of the July 20 launch in New Shepard on New Shepard’s first human trip. As a child, Bezos said that he had longed to fly to space. The bidding process to join Bezos and his brother in orbit has already started. According to Blue Origin, bidding for the next auction started at $2.8 million, with over 6,000 players from across the world participating.
2 Reasons Why You Should Invest In Blue Origin
- Blue Origin currently stands as the only commercial provider of space tourism in the world. The company has already carried more than 50 passengers to space. Virgin Galactic is the only other commercial provider of space tourism with its SpaceShipTwo, the only spacecraft in existence capable of space flight. Blue Origin is expected to put more than 100 people into space by the end of 2018, for an average ticket price of $200,000. There is no deadline for a customer to leave. Blue Origin also stated that the price will be adjusted in accordance with inflation. The New Shepard, named after the New Mexico Spaceport where it is built, was originally unveiled in 2011.
- Blue Origin is also developing its orbital spacecraft, New Glenn.
The Launch of New Shepard
In July 2013, Amazon announced the development of an orbital vehicle called New Glenn with plans for its first flight in 2020. New Glenn is now slated for its maiden flight in 2021. The New Shepard is a suborbital vehicle, which means it is designed to transport passengers and payloads into space. It will fly a few times per year in its highest phase with passengers on board and eventually become the company’s orbital vehicle. By testing the rocket engines and other hardware for the orbital vehicle, the New Shepard is helping Blue Origin develop the orbital vehicle. The Latest Launch of New Shepard On Thursday, Blue Origin flew the seventh crewed test flight of its New Shepard vehicle.
The Bidding Process
The winning bids for the right to become part of Blue Origin’s first crewed flight could reach over $1.5 billion, with over a dozen companies also vying to make their mark on the first flight in 2019. Blue Origin’s first crewed flight on New Shepard is estimated to be priced at more than $200,000 per seat. During a recent interview on CNBC, Richard Branson stated that the amount was not extravagant. “It’s comparable to the cost of a first-class air ticket anywhere in the world,” Branson said, adding, “More important than that, this is a very important milestone, which we will all remember for the rest of our lives.” The contest has been going on for more than 30 days, and the sale process closes on August 29, 2020.
Shares of Virgin Galactic
As per Yahoo Finance, shares of Virgin Galactic were up 0.11% to $253.30 after the news about Bezos and his brother’s bid in the New Shepard flight. According to Virgin Galactic, tickets are going for $250,000 per ticket and the total fee would also include flight training and NASA certification courses, which are otherwise available for a flat fee of $200,000. Virgin Galactic has developed a new launch system with SpaceShipTwo, a suborbital vehicle built by Scaled Composites (otherwise known as Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites), which is powered by a V-2 engine that produces 4,400 lbs. of thrust, six of which is injected into SpaceShipTwo’s main motor, a key to maintaining a supersonic plane.
