Virgin Galactic, founded by entrepreneur Richard Branson, has been working toward its goal to fly customers into space since 2004. While the last 18 months has grounded many commercial airlines, the advancement of space travel has not stood still. Virgin Galactic received regulatory approval to fly customers into space, moving the budding industry founded by billionaires one step closer to reality. Branson’s journey into space, now scheduled for July 11, comes before Amazon‘s Jeff Bezos’ into space on the first crewed flight of his rocket maker, Blue Origin on July 20. Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier maintains that Branson had his pick of which of two planned flights this summer he’d prefer to join and that there was no ‘space race.’ – Nadya Swart
Branson plans first space trip days before Bezos blasts off
By Justin Bachman
(Bloomberg) – Richard Branson plans to fly to space on July 11, days before a similar journey by fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos. The shares of Branson’s Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. surged.
The VSS Unity spacecraft will also carry three Virgin Galactic employees and two pilots from the launch site in New Mexico, according to a company statement Thursday. Bezos is planning a trip to space July 20 from nearby West Texas aboard a rocket made by Blue Origin, the Amazon.com Inc. founder’s space company.
“The foundation of it is: We’re ready,” Colglazier said in an interview. “There is nothing about a space race or ‘Who goes first?’ that played into this. We do our test flights when we’re ready to fly them.”
Branson will evaluate the “private astronaut experience,” the company said, as Virgin Galactic prepares to offer flights to well-heeled customers in 2022. The voyage this month will be similar to the test flight in May, in which the Unity flew to an altitude of more than 55 miles (89 kilometres).
“After more than 16 years of research, engineering, and testing, Virgin Galactic stands at the vanguard of a new commercial space industry, which is set to open space to humankind and change the world for good,” Branson said in the statement.
Virgin Galactic soared 27% to $54.98 after the close of regular trading in New York.
The trip will be Virgin Galactic’s fourth flight to space with crew members. Joining Branson will be Beth Moses, the company’s chief astronaut instructor, who has flown previously; Colin Bennett, an operations engineer; and Sirisha Bandla, vice president of government affairs.
Virgin Galactic executives have said they intend to resume ticket sales after the two test flights this summer. The company suspended sales after a 2014 crash killed a test pilot.
Following the planned trip on July 11, Branson said in a blog post that he would “announce something very exciting to give more people the chance to become an astronaut.”
Virgin Galactic plans to begin its regular commercial service next year.
Read Also:
Jeff Bezos will be on Blue Origin’s first space flight – With insights from The Wall Street Journal
SLR: Why Richard Branson, where capitalism and ego meet, is enemy #1. BRILLIANT!
