Bidder pays $28m for space trip with Jeff Bezos

An unnamed bidder has paid a whopping $28m (£20m) for a seat on Amazon founder Jeff Bezos‘s first crewed spaceflight by his Blue Origin company to space.

The winning bid was made at an auction on Saturday, June 13, with Blue Origin tweeting that the winner’s identity would be revealed in the coming weeks.

The bidding process attracted bids from more than 140 countries.

The flight to Space which will occur on 20 July, will include Bezos’ and his brother Mark alongside the unnamed space tourist.

After over a month of bidding, the top bid had stood at just under $5m – but once Saturday’s online auction got under way that figure rose more than five times.

The Space travel company tweeted that the winning bid amount will be donated to the company’s foundation.

“The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, @ClubforFuture,” Blue Origin tweeted.

According to Blue Origin’s website the company plans to launch its passengers more than 100km (62 miles) above the Earth’s surface, allowing them to experience microgravity. The six-berth capsule will return to Earth using parachutes.

The trip is expected to last about 10 minutes. The New Shepard booster can land vertically on the ground after returning from space. It is named after Alan Shepard, the second person and first US citizen to fly into space.

The first crewed flight comes just weeks after Mr Bezos plans to step down as CEO of Amazon. Bezos has a net worth of $186.2bn (£131.5bn), according to Forbes.

In September 2000, Bezos founded Blue Origin, a human spaceflight startup. Bezos has long expressed an interest in space travel and the development of human life in the solar system.