Richard Branson says his upcoming spaceflight is 'honestly not' to best Jeff Bezos

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson, who will soon be sent to the edge of space along with five others just days before Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is set to achieve the same milestone, has now said that his July 11 spaceflight was “honestly not1” intended to best the Amazon founder whose voyage is slated for July 20. In an interview with Washiting Post, Branson said, “It's just an incredible, wonderful coincidence that we're going up in the same month.” Virgin Galactic spaceship will take off on Sunday from a base in New Mexico called SpacePort America. 

Both Bezos and Branson will be the first to hitch a ride with private space companies which they created themselves. Notably, they will not be the first billionaires to travel to space. Hungarian-American Charles Simonyi and Guy Laliberte, the Canadian co-founder of Cirque du Soleil has already spent several days on International Space Station in 2007 and 2009 respectively. However, they made the trip on Russia’s Soyuz rockets. As Virgin Galactic finalises plans to send him and five others on a test flight to the edge of space on July 11, Branson said “every bit about it is a pinch-me moment.”

In a separate interview, the British billionaire said that his wife may be nervous about the historic launch but he himself was not least bit afraid. On July 6, while talking to Spaceport America near the remote town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, Branson said, “I've been looking forward to this for 17 years.”

He also revealed that the pre-flight preparations of his launch only fuel the excitement before Sunday’s milestone that also comes just one week before Branson’s 71st birthday. Virgin Galactic has announced that the launch of its VSS Unity rocket plane over the desert and will also mark the space tourism company’s fourth crewed test mission beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

Notably, it would be the first to carry a full complement of space travellers consisting of Branson, two pilots along with three other mission specialists. Unity will be launched at an altitude of around 50,000 feet from a Virgin Galactic plane then lift off its own rocket power to the edge of space. The crew would also experience nearly four minutes of weightlessness before beginning their descent back to Earth. 

‘I am so proud,’ says Branson

In a statement on July 2, Branson said, “I am so proud and excited to be flying to space on Virgin Galactic’s next rocket-powered test flight….It’s one thing to have a dream of making space more accessible to all; it’s another for an incredible team to collectively turn that dream into reality.”

“As part of a remarkable crew of mission specialists, I’m honoured to help validate the journey our future astronauts will undertake and ensure we deliver the unique customer experience people expect from Virgin,” he added.

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