Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced Monday he will fly into space next month on the first human flight launched by his Blue Origin rocket firm.
"Ever since I was five years old, I've dreamed of traveling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother," Bezos said on his Instagram account.
Blue Origin closed the first round of the auction last month and said it had received more than 5,200 bidders from 136 countries, without disclosing the highest bid from the round.
The current highest bid stood at $2.8 million in the ongoing second round of auction, according to Blue Origin's website.
The process will last until June 10 and conclude in a final phase on June 12, with a live online auction.
The company is targeting July 20 for its first suborbital sightseeing trip on its spacecraft, a landmark moment in a competition to usher in a new era of private commercial space travel.
