Teenager is first paying customer on Bezos-backed rocket ship

A teenager will become the first paying customer on a rocket ship back by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. 

Oliver Daemen, 18, will fly on board Blue Origin’s New Shepard Mission, the company announced Wednesday.

Daemen will fly alongside Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos and 82-year-old Wally Funk, who completed astronaut training in 1961 as a member of the “Mercury 13” Woman in Space Program.

Daemen and Funk will represent the youngest and oldest astronauts to travel to space, respectively, the company said.

Welcome to the crew, Oliver! We’re grateful to have you as our first customer to mark the beginning of commercial operations. #NSFirstHumanFlight https://t.co/gwZ6qBOFpi pic.twitter.com/SuOwxe2353

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 15, 2021

Daemen was chosen after the original winner of Blue Origin’s charity auction, who remains anonymous, chose to fly on a future mission due to scheduling conflicts, the company said. Blue Origin said last month that the original winner pledged a winning $28 million bid.

Blue Origin declined to disclose Daemen’s bid to The Hill.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted Bezos’s spaceflight a license on Monday, which is valid through August. The flight is scheduled to take off next Tuesday.

The flight comes after Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson beat Bezos to become the first billionaire to successfully launch into space on Sunday.

Branson’s trip lasted about 90 minutes, and reached the 50-mile altitude that the FAA recognizes as the edge of space.