$28m scores mystery bidder right to breathe same air as Amazon kingpin Jeff Bezos in Blue Origin flight
- Reference: 1623669972
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/06/14/blue_origin_auction/
- Source link:
[2]Bezos had previously confirmed that he and his brother, Mark, would be strapped into the capsule atop the reusable rocket on 20 July.
Bidding for a seat to accompany the billionaire began in the low millions and stood at a shade under $5m by the end of the last week. An auction on Saturday resulted in a final ticket price more than five times higher at $28m.
[3]
Almost half of the amount that kind old [4]Amazon has had to cough up for stiffing its drivers of their tips.
[5]
[6]
Not that the cash from the winning bid will go anywhere near Amazon's coffers; the amount is to be donated to Blue Origin's foundation, Club for the Future.
The live auction was completed in less time than it will take the capsule to perform its sub-orbital hop. The booster likely to make the flight, the fourth in the New Shepard line, has conducted two previous launches and landings, both of which went comfortably past the 100km mark.
[7]There are a lot of people out there who'd like to fire Jeff Bezos into space – but he's doing the honours himself
[8]NASA to return to the Moon by 2024. One problem with that, says watchdog: All of it
[9]Virgin Galactic goes where it's gone twice before, for the first time in two years
[10]Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander set to ride a SpaceX Falcon 9 to the Moon
It is, however, considerably lower than the 115 miles (185km) reached just over 60 years ago by US astronaut [11]Alan Shepard in the Freedom 7 capsule.
Yet Bezos and company will be considerably more comfortable than the first US 'naut. They will also get better views when they unstrap for a bit of floating fun before the capsule makes its return to earth via parachutes and landing rockets.
[12]
$28m does seem a bit steep. It has been less than 20 years since Canonical boss [13]Mark Shuttleworth took his own trip to space . His jaunt – for a stay on the ISS rather than a swift up-and-down – [14]cost a reported $20m , although prices [15]have risen at an eyewatering rate since then.
As for that 20 July flight, there remains a final seat to be filled before Bezos and his well-heeled chum can embark on their brief trip to space. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.blueorigin.com/news/the-very-first-seat-on-new-shepard-sells-for-28-million
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/07/bezos_blue_origin_flight/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YMd9H2tVc9wrF4a0VhTGaAAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/02/amazon_tips_settlement/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YMd9H2tVc9wrF4a0VhTGaAAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YMd9H2tVc9wrF4a0VhTGaAAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/07/bezos_blue_origin_flight/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/28/moon_nasa_late/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/24/virgin_galactic_test_flight_success/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/21/firefly_blue_ghost/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2013/11/21/doctor_who_the_right_stuff/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YMd9H2tVc9wrF4a0VhTGaAAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2012/06/28/mark_shuttleworth_live_chat/
[14] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1945950.stm
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/10/russias_space_agency_spat/
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Best outcome: Elon bought it and will give it to the most energic union organizer at Amazon...
Businesses have to report on potential risks to the business. For example Manchester United used to file that the company would be harmed should the manager at the time (Sir Alex) retire.
I'd love to read Amazon's corporate risk assessment of "our glorious leader is being strapped to an updated version of a V1 rocket and fired approximately upwards".
I assume Bezos has ordered a self-destruct mechanism to be wired into every Amazon warehouse and employee. To be triggered if his vital signs cease.
(Have a beer for that comment, I almost wet myself laughing at it!)
But sadly, I can just about imagine Bezos doing that.
I'm now having worrying thoughts about to what extent he might regard Baron Harkonnen as a role model…? "The spice trinkets must flow!"
A pity he stood down to focus on BO.
By the time the flight is planned, Bezos will not be an Amazon employee any longer. Consensus is that he hasn't been doing much for a long time anyway (busy with his new girl dontcha know), but once he's no longer involved in the corporation's business nothing that happens to him constitutes a risk to the shareholders. More practically, Amazon's never paid a dividend and if you totaled up all the net profits over the company's entire existence they'd come to just over $3 a share, or about 0.1% of the current market price. Given that track record of performance, it's difficult to believe that the loss of Mr Bezos would somehow deprive the shareholders of value; they should have fired him themselves years ago.
In true Amazon style
For $28m they deliver the seat to your door by Prime. "Oh, you thought you would be going up into space with Mr Bezos? Sorry but no."
I don't think they could get the launcher and capsule to look more like a penis even if they tried...
Time to update the Rowan Atkinson sketch
You know the one. Rowan doing an outrageously over-the-top French accent and declaring "It's not Nelson's Column! It's Nelson's WILLY!"
Other choices
I am sure BO prices will fall but for $40M you can have a quarter of a Dragon or for €6,000 a Zero G ride on an [1]A310 . With $28M to burn I would wait for Axiom to add some tourist modules to the ISS. Dragon can carry 7 people which would be a rather cramped ride to ISS and back but more space when you get there. Starships might turn out to be cheap one day but lets wait for them to hatch before counting them.
[1] https://www.airzerog.com/
I bought the ticket...
Just so I can kick the back of Bezos chair and ask "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" continuously from the moment we are strapped in.
Better check that for $28m you get a parachute or ejector seat. Otherwise imagine the buyers face when the Bezos Bros are whisked to safety seconds before a fiery death.
This just in
Dateline July 20. 2021
The Blue Origin capsule containing the Bezos brothers and others, has been scooped up by an unidentified space craft. According to NASA tracking the trajectory of the craft appears to show it is heading for Uranus, investigators are looking into it.
Social distancing?
I hope they all got vaccinated and tested :-)
My money is on it being Elon for a laugh.