Jeff Bezos Picks 18-Year-Old Dutch Student for Blue Origin Rocket Launch

Oliver Daemen will fly to the edge of space after another passenger who paid $28 million for the seat had a scheduling conflict.

Someone paid $28 million to not go to space with Jeff Bezos next week. Instead, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands will join the flight. His name is Oliver Daemen, and the flight would make him the youngest person ever to go to space. Mr. Bezos, who just stepped down as chief executive of Amazon, announced last month that he would be one of the passengers when his rocket company, Blue Origin, conducts its first human spaceflight. The flight is scheduled for Tuesday, to coincide with the 52nd anniversary of the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon. It is to follow Richard Branson’s flight to the edge of space this past Sunday in a rocket plane built for the company he founded, Virgin Galactic.