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Seat on first space flight with Jeff Bezos auctioned for $37 million

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SEATTLE: A seat on a spaceship ride with billionaire Jeff Bezos went for US$28 million (S$37 million) during a live auction on Saturday, concluding the month-long bidding process for the sightseeing trip on the Blue Origin's maiden voyage next month.

Within four minutes of the start of Saturday's live phone auction, bids reached beyond US$20 million. The bidding closed seven minutes after the auction began. The identity of the winner was not disclosed.

The July 20 launch of Blue Origin's New Shepard booster from West Texas would be a landmark moment as US companies strive towards a new era of private commercial space travel.

Blue Origin's founder and Amazon chief executive Bezos, the world's wealthiest man and a lifelong space enthusiast, has been racing against fellow aspiring billionaire aeronauts Richard Branson and Elon Musk to be the first of the three to travel beyond Earth's atmosphere.

"To see the Earth from space changes you. It changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity," Mr Bezos said in a video before the final bidding took place.

However, Mr Branson, who founded Virgin Galactic, may attempt to steal Mr Bezos' thunder by joining a possible test flight to the edge of space over the July 4 weekend aboard Virgin's VSS Unity spaceplane, one person familiar with the matter said. - REUTERS

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