Virgin Galactic精东影业 founder Richard Branson announced that he would be traveling to space together with five other crew members onboard Virgin Galactic test flight from New Mexico on July 11, 2021.
This will be the fourth Virgin精东影业 (VAH) manned spaceflight, according to the company. Two additional test flights are planned before the Virgin Galactic expects to commence commercial service in 2022. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave Virgin (VAH) green light to take paying customers into space in late June 2021.
I鈥檝e always been a dreamer. My mum taught me to never give up and to reach for the stars. On July 11, it精东影业 time to turn that dream into a reality aboard the next spaceflight
鈥 Richard Branson (@richardbranson)
鈥淚 truly believe that space belongs to all of us,鈥 Branson was quoted in the company精东影业 statement. 鈥淎fter 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. As part of a remarkable crew of mission specialists, I鈥檓 honoured to help validate the journey our future astronauts will undertake and ensure we deliver the unique customer experience people expect from Virgin (VAH).鈥&#虫补0;
Billionaires鈥 fight: Branson to launch space trip ahead of Bezos
This means, Branson will travel beyond earth精东影业 atmosphere ahead of fellow aspiring astronaut Jeff Bezos.
Blue Origin, whose founder is Bezos, aims to fly its first astronaut crew to space on July 20, 2021, 鈥 nine days later than Branson精东影业 Virgin Galactic. Wally Funk, Bezos brother Mark, and auction winner whose identity is yet to be disclosed will join Amazon billionaire in the first Blue Origin精东影业 crewed flight to space.
The flight will take place on Blue Origin精东影业 New Shepard spacecraft. The spacecraft was designed as a commercial system for suborbital space tourism and is capable of carrying six passengers onboard more than 100 kilometers above Earth.
Once the first space tourism trip is completed, Blue Origin will reportedly conduct a few further flights to space during 2021.
