{"id":11574,"date":"2021-07-09T19:22:14","date_gmt":"2021-07-09T11:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/virgin-founder-richard-branson-heads-for-space-sunday\/"},"modified":"2021-07-09T19:22:14","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T11:22:14","slug":"virgin-founder-richard-branson-heads-for-space-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/virgin-founder-richard-branson-heads-for-space-sunday\/","title":{"rendered":"Virgin-founder Richard Branson heads for space Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION<\/p>\n

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Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of Virgin Galactic and Virgin Group, is set to fly to the edge of space Sunday. Credit: Virgin Galactic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After nearly two decades of overly optimistic forecasts, technical challenges, a tragic setback and a determined recovery, Richard Branson, the globe-trotting media mogul and founder of Virgin Galactic, plans to rocket into space Sunday, beating fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos to the punch by nine days.<\/p>\n

In a high-stakes display of confidence in Virgin\u2019s sleek rocketplane, Branson wants to get an owner\u2019s understanding of what his company is offering and in the process, convince potential customers that purely commercial, non-government flights to space are worth the initially astronomical cost.<\/p>\n

And the risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that commercial space travel can become a profitable enterprise, but that is not the point,\u201d he wrote in his most recent autobiography. \u201cIf I had merely wanted to make more money, I could have invested in far safer, more reliable sectors. I believe that putting our faith in space travel serves, quite literally, a higher purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commercial spaceflight, he wrote, will \u201cexpand our understanding of the universe\u201d and \u201cimprove countless lives back on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the decades to come, we could be a precursor to further space exploration, which could lead to the colonization of other planets and the eventual endurance of the human race,\u201d he concluded. \u201cThere can be no greater challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

If all goes well, the flight will get underway at Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, shortly after 9 a.m. EDT Sunday when Virgin\u2019s four-engine \u201cmothership\u201d, the VMS Eve, takes off and carries the VSS Unity spaceplane to an altitude of about 45,000 feet.<\/p>\n

Strapped into Unity, Branson, two company pilots and three Virgin crewmates then will be released for a rocket-powered climb to the lower reaches of space and a gliding descent back to Spaceport America\u2019s 12,000-foot-long runway. Virgin plans to provide a live webcast starting at 9 a.m. EDT Sunday.<\/p>\n

Virgin Galactic and Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin are competing head to head in the emerging space tourism marketplace, both offering short up-and-down rides just above the aerodynamically discernible atmosphere for a few minutes of weightlessness and spectacular views Earth and the deep black of outer space.<\/p>\n

Along with wealthy space tourists, both companies expect to fly researchers and experiments from government agencies and companies developing or testing space technology.<\/p>\n

NASA has already launched experiment packages aboard both spacecraft and the Italian air force plans to launch researchers aboard a Virgin flight once commercial operations get underway.<\/p>\n

Neither company has said how much it will cost for a ride to space, but tickets are expected to run in the neighborhood of $250,000 to $500,000. Some 600 enthusiasts have put down refundable deposits for flights aboard Virgin\u2019s spaceplane, many of them reserving seats shortly after the company\u2019s founding in 2004.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I weigh up everything I have ever taken on, this is the biggest task, and if we can pull it off, it will be my proudest achievement,\u201d Branson wrote.<\/p>\n

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This infographic released by Virgin Galactic describes the typical flight profile for a SpaceShipTwo mission. Credit: Virgin Galactic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Virgin won the initial race to space with people on board on Dec. 13, 2018, when VSS Unity carried two pilots out of the atmosphere. Two more piloted test flights to space were launched in 2019 and this past May 22.<\/p>\n

Two weeks earlier, Blue Origin carried out its 15th successful New Shepard launch and landing, all of them unpiloted. On May 5, the 60th anniversary of Alan Shepard\u2019s flight to become the first American in space, the company announced its next test flight, on July 20, would carry its first crew.<\/p>\n

Then, on June 7, two weeks after Virgin completed its third piloted test flight with two company pilots, Bezos announced that he planned to blast off on the July flight of New Shepard, along with his brother Mark and the winner of an on-line auction.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see the Earth from space that changes you, it changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity. It\u2019s one Earth,\u201d Bezos said in an Instagram post announcing his flight. \u201cI want to go on this flight because it\u2019s the thing I\u2019ve wanted to do all my life. It\u2019s an adventure. It\u2019s a big deal for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The as-yet-unidentified auction winner went on to bid $28 million for the opportunity to join Bezos and his brother. Blue Origin then announced that aviation pioneer Wally Funk, 82, who was barred from NASA\u2019s initially all-male astronaut corps, had been invited to join the crew.<\/p>\n

Later that same day, Virgin announced that Branson planned to blast off on July 11 along with five company employees. The launching will mark the first with non-professional \u201cpassengers\u201d on board giving the British tycoon billionaire bragging rights in the commercial space arena.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly believe that space belongs to all of us,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cAfter 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he was \u201chonored to help validate the journey our future astronauts will undertake and ensure we deliver the unique customer experience people expect from Virgin.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Branson insists he\u2019s not in any sort of \u201cspace race\u201d with Bezos or SpaceX founder Elon Musk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is certainly professional rivalry between us, but also enormous respect and a shared desire to shake up the space industry,\u201d he wrote in his autobiography. \u201cA new generation of entrepreneurs is trying to bring innovation back to the stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bezos has had no public comment on Virgin\u2019s sudden decision to schedule Branson\u2019s flight ahead of Blue Origin\u2019s.<\/p>\n

But the company posted a tweet Friday pointing out that New Shepard passengers will reach altitudes higher than 62 miles, the internationally recognized \u201cboundary\u201d of space \u2014 the K\u00e1rm\u00e1n line \u2014 while Virgin Galactic customers will not.<\/p>\n

Virgin Galactic\u2019s spaceplane soars to just above 50 miles, the boundary long recognized by the U.S. Air Force, NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration as the point where a vehicle is no longer affected by aerodynamics and behaves as if in a vacuum.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the beginning, New Shepard was designed to fly above the K\u00e1rm\u00e1n line so none of our astronauts have an asterisk next to their name,\u201d Blue Origin tweeted. \u201cFor 96% of the world\u2019s population, space begins 100 km up at the internationally recognized K\u00e1rm\u00e1n line.\u201d<\/p>\n