Photo: Blue Origin via Youtube
For a brief moment, the youngest and the oldest person to fly to the edge of space will be on the same flight. Blue Origin announced that 18-year-old Oliver Daemen will be the first paying customer and the youngest to fly onboard the New Shepard rocket, marking the beginning of commercial travel for the company.
The winner of the $28 million auction, whose identity has yet to be revealed, will go on a future New Shepard passenger flight. Instead, Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old teen with a passion for space, will take the final seat on the debut commercial flight.
Oliver's father is Joes Daemen, the CEO and Founder of Somerset Capital Partners, who more than likely bought a seat for a future flight and now passed it to his son. The seat has been moved up because, according to Blue Origin, the mystery auction winner will not fly this time due to "scheduling conflicts." Oliver is the company's first paying customer, but information on how much the ticket has cost was not disclosed.
"This marks the beginning of commercial operations for New Shepard, and Oliver represents a new generation of people who will help us build a road to space," said Bob Smith, CEO of Blue Origin.
The teen has been interested in space, the Moon, and rockets since he was a little boy, and flying on New Shepard will fulfill a lifetime goal for him. He graduated from high school in 2020 and took a gap year before pursuing his private pilot's certificate. Oliver will begin studying physics and innovation management at the University of Utrecht in September.
Oliver will join Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, and aviation legend Wally Funk who will also be on the flight as the oldest person to go beyond our skies. Together, they will reach the edge of space just a few days after Virgin Galactic had its first 50 miles (80 km) high passenger journey. New Shepard will climb a bit higher at 328,000 feet (100 km), where the crew will spend approximately 11 minutes and experience weightlessness.
Oliver's father is Joes Daemen, the CEO and Founder of Somerset Capital Partners, who more than likely bought a seat for a future flight and now passed it to his son. The seat has been moved up because, according to Blue Origin, the mystery auction winner will not fly this time due to "scheduling conflicts." Oliver is the company's first paying customer, but information on how much the ticket has cost was not disclosed.
"This marks the beginning of commercial operations for New Shepard, and Oliver represents a new generation of people who will help us build a road to space," said Bob Smith, CEO of Blue Origin.
The teen has been interested in space, the Moon, and rockets since he was a little boy, and flying on New Shepard will fulfill a lifetime goal for him. He graduated from high school in 2020 and took a gap year before pursuing his private pilot's certificate. Oliver will begin studying physics and innovation management at the University of Utrecht in September.
Oliver will join Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, and aviation legend Wally Funk who will also be on the flight as the oldest person to go beyond our skies. Together, they will reach the edge of space just a few days after Virgin Galactic had its first 50 miles (80 km) high passenger journey. New Shepard will climb a bit higher at 328,000 feet (100 km), where the crew will spend approximately 11 minutes and experience weightlessness.
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