spacetoday.net: Blue Origin to auction off New Shepard seat

Blue Origin to auction off New Shepard seat

Posted: Sat, May 8, 2021, 11:22 AM ET (1522 GMT)
New Shepard launch on NS-11 flight (Blue Origin)

Blue Origin will fly people on its New Shepard suborbital vehicle for the first time in July, and is auctioning off a seat on that mission. The company said Wednesday that first crewed flight is scheduled for July 20 after years of test flights without people on the vehicle. The company started an auction process Wednesday for one seat on the flight, with the proceeds going to an educational nonprofit, Club for the Future, affiliated with Blue Origin. The company, though, did not disclose plans for selling tickets on future flights, noting only that it expected to carry out a couple more crewed New Shepard missions through the end of the year.