Jeff Bezos is headed to space, and he's bringing his brother along with him.
Bezos' rocket ship company Blue Origin is holding an auction, where a winner will be able to go to space on the rocket New Shepard, with Bezos and his brother, for its first human flight on July 20th.
The current high bid is $2.8 million. The auction will conclude Saturday, with the winning amount donated to Club for the Future, Blue Origin's education foundation. Nearly 6,000 people from 143 countries have taken part in the auction.
Monday the company released a video on social media where Bezos and his brother Mark talk about their next adventure to space, and we see Bezos invite him to come along.
"To see the Earth from space, it changes you. It changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity. It's one Earth," Bezos said in the video posted to social media.
The Amazon founder and soon-to-be former CEO announced recently that he would be shifting focus, passing the baton to the company's next CEO Andy Jassy. Bezos is now set to focus on other initiatives and ventures like his space company, Blue Origin, according to reports.
"I want to go on this flight because it's the thing I've wanted to do all my life. It's an adventure, it's a big deal for me," Bezos said.
"I invited my brother to come on this first flight because we're closest friends."
Bezos' brother Mark said, "what a remarkable opportunity not only to have this adventure, but to be able to do it with my best friend."
The flight will officially kick off Blue Origin's space tourism business. The company has yet to start selling tickets to the public or even to announce a ticket price for the short trips, which provide about three minutes of weightlessness. The capsule can hold six people, each with their own large window. The company hasn't said who might occupy the remaining three seats on the debut passenger flight.
Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson also plans to launch aboard his own rocket later this year, after one more test flight over New Mexico. SpaceX's Elon Musk — who's already transported 10 astronauts to the International Space Station over the past year — has yet to commit to a spaceflight.
Blue Origin successfully completed the 15th test flight of its reusable New Shepard rocket in April, with the capsule reaching an altitude of 66 miles (106 kilometers). Before liftoff, a mock crew strapped into the capsule for practice, then hopped out, paving the way for the upcoming flight with passengers on board.
The company's launch and landing site is in remote west Texas, 120 miles southeast of El Paso and close to the Mexican border.
For its first crew launch, the company chose the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. It also used a space anniversary in May to announce an online auction for a seat on the flight — the 60th anniversary of the first U.S. spaceflight by Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, for whom the rocket is named.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.