Richard Branson to beat Jeff Bezos in billionaire’s space race on July 11 flight

Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson is planning to beat Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos into space by nine days after announcing plans to be Astronaut 001 on the firm’s July 11 test flight. 

Bezos had already announced in June that he would be heading to space on July 20 alongside his brother on Blue Origin’s New Shepherd spacecraft, but Branson now appears to have him beat by nine days.

Branson appeared in a Twitter video to announce his trip on Thursday, and introduced himself as ‘Astronaut 001.’

He said: ‘I’ll be evaluating the customer spaceflight experience. As the Virgin Galactic founder I am so proud to have this remarkable crew of mission specialists and pilots by my side as we fly to space.

‘I’ve always been a dreamer, my mum taught me never to give up and reach for the stars. 

‘This July, that dream will become a reality, and we’re really excited to share with you all, and when we return I will announce something very exciting to more people a chance to become astronauts, because space belongs to us all. So watch this space.’ 

Branson spoke after sharing another statement earlier on Thursday. It said: ‘After 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.

‘I’m honored to help validate the journey our future astronauts will undertake and ensure we deliver the unique customer experience people expect from Virgin.’

It will be Virgin Galactic’s fourth test spaceflight and the first mission with a crew of four on board.

Branson will be taking off alongside Chief astronaut instructor Beth Moses, Virgin Galactic’s chief astronaut instructor who flew to space on the company’s second spaceflight mission. 

Colin Bennett, the company’s lead operations engineer, will also join the flight. He will be Astronaut 003.

Sirisha Bandla, Virgin Galactic’s vice president of government affairs and research operations will also be on board as Astronaut 004. 

This month’s Unity 22 mission will be the 22nd flight test for rocket plane VSS Unity and the company’s fourth crewed spaceflight. Virgin Galactic’s rocket travels 50 miles into the sky, to the edge of space, before returning to Earth. 

The main objectives of the next test flight, taking off from Virgin Galactic’s spaceport in New Mexico, will be ‘evaluating… seat comfort, the weightless experience and the views of Earth’ in the space cabin.

The company said it also wants to demonstrate the conditions for conducting human-tended research experiments and confirm the training program at Spaceport America supports the spaceflight experience.

Speaking ahead of his upcoming space flight, Sir Richard said: ‘I truly believe that space belongs to all of us. 

‘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.’ 

Addressing the benefits of Branson embarking on the next space flight, Michael Colglazier, chief executive officer of Virgin Galactic, said: ‘Our next flight – the 22nd flight test for VSS Unity and our first fully crewed flight test – is a testament to the dedication and technical brilliance of our entire team, and I’d like to extend a special thank you to our pilots and mission specialists, each of whom will be performing important work.

‘Tapping into Sir Richard’s expertise and long history of creating amazing customer experiences will be invaluable as we work to open the wonder of space travel and create awe-inspiring journeys for our customers.’

Virgin Galactic plans three more test flights to the edge of space this summer and early fall, before launching with customers. 

The company had originally put Branson on the second upcoming flight, but has now moved him up to the next one in order to beat Bezos blasting off. 

Branson acknowledged it’s ‘very important’ for potential customers to see him strap in for a ride, before opening the doors to the paying public.

The thrill-seeking adventurer, who turns 71 in a few weeks, said he’s ‘not apprehensive at all’ about launching into space.

‘It’s a dream of a lifetime,’ he said. 

Last week, Virgin Galactic got the Federal Aviation Administration’s OK to start launching customers. 

More than 600 people already have reserved a ride to space. Tickets initially cost $250,000, but the price is expected to go up once the company starts accepting reservations again.

Virgin Galactic made its third flight to space in May, with two pilots in the cockpit of the winged spaceship. 

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is targeting July 20 for his rocket company’s first launch with people. The Blue Origin flight from West Texas will include Bezos, his brother, a charity auction winner who’s shelling out $28 million and a fourth unidentified person.

Unlike Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are looking to send space tourists on brief up-and-down hops – not into orbit around the world.