Hope you’ve hung onto the money you’ve saved with your Amazon purchases, because if you want a ride on Jeff Bezos’ rocket ship, it’s going to cost you.
Reuters reports a seat on Blue Origin’s New Shepard system will run from $200,000 to $300,000 when tickets go on sale. That’s expected to be as soon as next year.
That’s not a cheap trip, especially when you realize it will only offer passengers a suborbital view of the earth for four minutes or so and the entire ride will only last 11 minutes (and won’t have bathrooms or barf bags). That said, as the capsule only carries six people and each flight will cost an estimated $10 million, the company will take notable losses with each flight early on.
The price is also competitive with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, which has sold roughly 650 tickets for $250,000 each already.
Blue Origin has had several successful tests of its rockets so far, most recently in April, when the company tested whether acrylic windows could withstand entry into space. Still, the company is a bit behind its original schedule.
Before paying customers step on board, though, Blue Origin is expected to send employees up to demonstrate the safety of the spacecraft and to do additional tests. The company hopes to launch its first manned flights later this year.