An 18-year-old physicist with a father in charge of an investment management company is expected to replace the man who donated $ 28 million (approximately Rs. 210 crores) to auction to participate in the first billionaire space flight of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Company.
Blue Origin on Thursday said Oliver Daemen would join a group of 4 workers on a plane scheduled for Tuesday after an auctioneer, whose name was not disclosed to the public, resigned due to “planned conflicts” Jeff Bezos Daemen becomes the company’s first paying customer.
His addition means the plane will include the oldest man ever to fly in space – 82-year-old Wally Funk, and the youngest is Daemen, according to Blue Origin.
Joining Blue Origin for the launch of the small wedding will be Bezos and his brother Mark Bezos.
Daemen is working to get a pilot’s license and is expected to go to the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands to study physics management and innovation in September, Blue Origin said.
His father is CEO of Somerset Capital Partners and founder Joe Daemen.
Elder Daemen “paid for a seat and chose to fly Oliver,” said Blue Origin. The company declined to comment on the amount paid.
“Flying with New Shepard will fulfill a lifelong dream for Oliver, who has been fascinated by space, the Moon, and rockets since he was four years old,” the company said.
Bezos has been locked out of the race with its billionaire rivals Richard Branson and Elon Musk as they seek to usher in a new era of commercial travel in the tourism market estimated by Swiss bank UBS to be worth $ 3 billion (approximately Rs. 22,360 crores) annually for ten years.
The New Shepard is 60 meters long (18.3-meters long) and is a completely independent rocket-and-capsule combo that cannot be explored inside the spacecraft. The launch is set for location in West Texas.
Branson, a British businessman, was on his Virgin Galactic plane when he boarded a plane from New Mexico on Sunday.
