Blue Origin, billionaire Jeff Bezos' space company, begins selling tickets today (May 5) for suborbital sightseeing trips.
Blue Origin is expected to announce details on how consumers can purchase a seat aboard its New Shepard commercial spacecraft, the timing of the first space flight, and the cost of a ticket, which has been a carefully-guarded secret inside the company until today.
Media reports say that Blue Origin could charge passengers at least $200,000 U.S. for a ride into space. Blue Origin teased last week that it would soon begin selling tickets, following years of testing and development work that has included multiple delays.
Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket-and-capsule combo is designed to autonomously fly six passengers more than 62 miles (100 km) above Earth into suborbital space, high enough to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of the planet before the pressurized capsule returns to earth via parachutes.
Blue Origin's announcement will provide Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), sorely needed momentum after Blue Origin lost out to SpaceX on a $2.9 billion U.S. contract under NASA's high-profile program to return Americans to the moon in coming years.
