Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has 'thousands of people in the auction process' for a ticket to space and needs to build more rockets to meet the demand, CEO says

• Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has "thousands of people" in the auction process for a ticket to space.
• CEO Bob Smith spoke at a conference Thursday about the "very robust" demand for more spaceflights, CNBC reported.

Blue Origin's last spaceflight was three months ago, and there's a laundry list of people ready to cough up millions of dollars for a seat on its next one.

Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith said Thursday at the FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference that the company, which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has "thousands of people in the auction process" for a ticket to the edge of space, CNBC reports.

Blue Origin hasn't revealed ticket prices for its spaceflights, but the winning bid for a seat on the company's first crewed mission came in at $28 million last year.

Smith also said at the conference that Blue Origin is seeing "very robust demand" for more of its spaceflights and will build additional New Shepard rockets to meet it, according to CNBC. Smith added that the company can "easily double" the number of crewed missions this year from what it had in 2021.

Last year, Blue Origin had three crewed spaceflights.

In July, Bezos launched 62 miles above Earth alongside his brother, Mark; Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen; and 82-year-old aviator Wally Funk.

In October, Blue Origin flew "Star Trek" actor William Shatner; former NASA engineer Chris Boshuizen; healthcare entrepreneur Glen de Vries; and Blue Origin's vice president of mission and flight operations Audrey Powers.

In December, a New Shepard rocket carried six passengers to the edge of space, including "Good Morning America" co-host Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, the oldest daughter of US astronaut Alan Shepard, from whom Blue Origin's rockets get their name.

Blue Origin competitor Virgin Galactic has a lengthy waitlist of its own. Company filings last summer revealed roughly 600 people from 58 countries had reserved tickets worth up to $250,000 with the Richard Branson-owned company.