A Dutch teenager is set to fly to space with Jeff Bezos.
Gatekeepers News reports that an 18-year-old, Oliver Daemen is set to become the youngest person to fly to space as he joins Jeff Bezos on the first human flight by his space company on July 20.
Oliver who is the son of Somerset Capital Partners CEO Joes Daemen will fly in place of an anonymous $28m (£20m) winning bidder of a public auction.
According to Bezos’ space venture, Blue Origin, the winner of the auction could not make the mission “due to scheduling conflicts.”
Blue Origin added that Oliver earlier secured a seat on the second flight but was later moved up to the first after the winning bidder pulled out.
He is to join 82-year-old Wally Funk, who will become the oldest ever person in space. Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark are to make up the rest of the passengers on the New Shepard rocket.
The previous winner of the auction who has remained anonymous, even as the launch edged closer, has also chosen to remain silent about the nature of the “conflicts” which led to his/her withdrawal.
However, Blue Origin is yet to disclose the cost of Daeman’s ticket.
Reports gathered that the flight will fulfil a lifelong dream for the teenager, “who has been fascinated by space, the Moon and rockets since he was four”.
The organisation plans to launch its passengers more than 100km (62 miles) above the Earth’s surface, allowing them to experience microgravity.
Afterward, the capsule will return to Earth using parachutes on a trip expected to last about 10 minutes.
Jeff Bezos created Blue Origin in 2000 and announced last month that he and his brother would embark on the flight – describing it as something he had wanted to do “all my life”.
The flight follows billionaire Sir Richard Branson successfully edge of space onboard his Virgin Galactic rocket plane last week.
