Tag: Richard Branson
-
No further investments in Virgin Galactic, says Richard Branson
Sir Richard Branson has ruled out putting more money into his lossmaking space travel company Virgin Galactic, saying his business empire “does not have the deepest pockets” any more. Virgin Galactic, which was founded by Branson in 2004, last month announced it was cutting jobs and suspending commercial flights for 18 months from next year,…
-
Virgin Orbit pauses operations amid financial troubles
Virgin Orbit’s carrier aircraft, a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet, takes off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California with a LauncherOne rocket under its left wing. Credit: Virgin Orbit Virgin Orbit announced last week it is pausing operations after sustained financial losses, furloughing most of the company’s approximately 750 employees as officials seek…
-
Billionaire belly laughs: SNL’s space skit pokes fun at Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and Elon Musk
Jeff Bezos (left) gets the “Saturday Night Live” treatment from Owen Wilson. (Blue Origin / NBC Photos) You know that the billionaire space race has entered the nation’s mainstream when it’s skewered by NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” On tonight’s season premiere, guest host Owen Wilson played the starring role in “Star Trek: Ego Quest” as…
-
A tale of two spaceships: How Seattle tech titans helped launch suborbital space tours
Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity and its mothership (left) are modeled after the SpaceShipOne launch system (right) that was built with Seattle billionaire Paul Allen’s backing. (Photos by Virgin Galactic and Michael Pereckas) The suborbital spaceships built by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic spaceline may look totally different, but financially…
-
Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson takes suborbital space trip, stealing the spotlight from Jeff Bezos
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, VSS Unity, fires up its hybrid rocket motor to head spaceward. (Virgin Galactic via YouTube) Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson rode his company’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane into the skies over New Mexico today and did something that no billionaire has done before. In the company of five crewmates, Branson became…
-
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin fuels feud with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic over suborbital space trips
How serious could the suborbital space race between Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos get? (GeekWire Photos) Jeff Bezos has a longstanding rivalry with SpaceX’s Elon Musk, but now his Blue Origin space venture is upping the ante in its spat with fellow soon-to-be space traveler Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic — and the Twitterverse is not…
-
Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson plans July spaceflight to upstage Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin trip
Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson says he’ll be Astronaut 001 on the July flight. (Virgin Galactic Photo) The billionaire space race is on: Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson is on the crew for the next test flight of the company’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, which is scheduled to cross the 50-mile space frontier as early as…
-
Virgin Galactic downplays rumblings about a suborbital Branson vs. Bezos space race
How serious could the suborbital space race between Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos get? (GeekWire Photos) Would Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson try to steal a march on Blue Origin (and Amazon) founder Jeff Bezos when it comes down to which billionaire flies first on their own suborbital spaceship? There’s been some buzz about that…
-
Virgin Galactic flies to edge of space for first time from New Mexico
Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spaceplane fires its rocket motor to begin an ascent to the edge of space Saturday. Credit: Virgin Galactic Two pilots flew Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocketplane to the edge of space Saturday over New Mexico on the first human spaceflight from the company’s new home base at Spaceport America. Commercial astronauts Rick…
-
Virgin Galactic pilots land safely after aborting suborbital flight
Two pilots aboard Virgin Galactic’s commercial SpaceShipTwo suborbital rocketplane safely landed back in New Mexico Saturday after a “computer communications loss” triggered an abort of the craft’s engine ignition sequence. Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company founder by billionaire Richard Branson, was attempting its first suborbital spaceflight from the company’s new home base at Spaceport…