Virgin Galactic Founder Richard Branson Set To Beat Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos In Space Race

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s aim to become the first passenger of the first human space flight could take a hit. Billionaire Richard Branson has announced plans to fly to space before Jeff Bezos. Richard is the founder of Virgin Galactic, a British-American spaceflight company. Virgin Galactic said that Richard will fly to space to test the astronaut experience. Richard’s company said that the next test flight on July 11 will see the company founder flying. Richard will be joined by five more people. All five are company employees. The rocket will lift off from New Mexico. It will be Virgin Galactic’s fourth trip to space so far.

Billionaire Jeff Bezos owns Washington’s headquartered aerospace firm Blue Origin. He will fly to space on July 20. This will be Blue Origin’s first human spaceflight. Besides Bezos, his brother Mark will also be a part of the mission. The New Shepard vehicle will lift off carrying the crew. It is a reusable rocket and capsule designed and developed by Blue Origin. It has already performed multiple uncrewed missions. The company has tested the rocket more than a dozen times. The decision to select July 20 coincides with Apollo 11’s 52nd anniversary. It was on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on Moon. It was the first spaceflight to take humans on the Moon.

The flights of both Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin last about 10 minutes. This includes nearly three so minutes of weightlessness. Richard’s company launches its rocket ship from an aircraft. It reaches an altitude of 88 km. Blue Origin launches its rocket from the ground. Its capsule reaches an altitude of 10 km. The heights are considered an edge from where space starts. SpaceX, another American aerospace company owned by Elon Musk, is developing a rocket that will take humans deep into space. It also launches its capsules from the ground. All three companies are planning to take paying customers into space. SpaceX has already announced to launch the first private flight in September this year.