By Michael Sheetz - CNBC
The aerospace company Blue Origin, owned by magnate Jeff Bezos, announced on Thursday that
Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old student and finalist in an auction that took place last month, will travel to space
in replacement of the highest bidder, who still remains anonymous and who agreed to pay. $ 28 million to be part of the mission.
Daemen will take part in a suborbital flight with Amazon founder his brother Mark Bezos and legendary aerospace pioneer Wally Funk on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket on July 20.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin, during a routine inspection at the base of his aerospace company in Van Horn, Texas.
Courtesy Blue Origin
The young physics student takes the place of the auction winner, whom Blue Origin said could not participate in the mission "due to conflicts in his schedule" and who "has chosen to fly a future New Shepard mission."
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Daemen becomes the "first paying customer" of Blue Origin
after "having secured a place on the second flight during the auction," a company spokesperson told CNBC.
"We gave him priority when his seat on the first flight became available," added Blue Origin, further confirming that Daemen is the son of Somerset Capital Partners chief executive Joes Daemen, who paid for the seat.
Somerset is a Dutch private equity firm based in Oisterwijk, the Netherlands, founder of the company Joes Daemen.
Daemon would be
the youngest person to travel to space at 18, while Funk, 82, would be the oldest
.
Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old student, will participate in a suborbital flight with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on July 20, 2021. Courtesy Blue Origin
Space flight
The New Shepard rocket, which carries a capsule to an altitude of more than 340,000 feet, has successfully conducted more than a dozen unmanned test flights, including one in April at the company's facility in the Texas desert.
It is designed to carry up to six people and flies autonomously,
without the need for a pilot
.
The capsule has huge windows so that passengers can observe Earth from space for about three minutes in zero gravity, before returning to Earth.
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Blue Origin uses a vertical launch system and both the rocket and the capsule are reusable.
The thrusters land on a concrete platform at the company's Van Horn, Texas facility, while the capsules land with a set of parachutes.
Bezos owns Blue Origin, founded by himself in 2000 and financed through the sale of shares in Amazon, which he also founded.
July 20, the scheduled launch date,
coincides with the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.