Sir Richard Branson is from Britain and Jeff Bezos is from the United States. Both are billionaires and Celebrities. While the former is the founder of Virgin Galactic, the latter has his Blue Origin. They are engaged in a battle. Each of them wants to prove his superiority in the field of space tourism. Virgin Galactic announced that it plans to conduct its next test flight with a difference. It would be on July 11 and its founder Sir Richard Branson would be on board. That would put him ahead of Jeff Bezos whose plan is for July 20. Obviously, the billionaire of Britain would score over his counterpart of America.

CNBC quotes Sir Branson saying –“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.” He also added that his Virgin Galactic would pave the road to a new space industry that would be commercial in nature. He feels it would bring about changes in the world and in the concept people have of space. It need not be a domain reserved for a few. In December 2018, a media report mentioned Virgin Galactic and its vision to make space tourism a reality.

Branson will have Virgin Galactic specialists with him

It takes courage to undertake ventures of this nature. There could be innumerable unexpected situations because of the newness of the project.

Hence, it stands to reason that there would be specialists on board with Sir Branson himself. CNBC explains that this would be the fourth test flight of Virgin Galactic. It would also be the first mission with a crew of four. On May 22, it completed a spaceflight with two pilots. The company revealed its plan to livestream the spaceflight.

It would be available on all social media platforms. The Federal Aviation Administration has granted licenses to carry passengers. The company has set a target of 2022 for space tourism with paying passengers. Virgin Galactic has taken care to conduct manned test fights before launching space tourism.

Virgin Galactic was born in 2004 for space tourism

Sir Richard Branson created Virgin Galactic in 2004. His intention from day one was to establish a business to promote space tourism. It was a new concept because, in those days, space was an area meant exclusively for scientists and researchers. They wanted to learn more about space and how that sort of environment affects the lives of humans, animals, and plants. The leading players were from the United States and Russia. The creator of Virgin Galactic was a visionary and he worked to a plan. He has been waiting patiently for the day he would be onboard one of his planes. He wants to herald in the age of space tourism and has set the ball rolling.

CNBC goes on to add that, when it comes to suborbital space tourism, the only real competitor for Virgin Galactic could be Blue Origin of Jeff Bezos. He has set the date of July 20 for the first passenger flight of Blue Origin and its New Shepard rocket.

The next flight of Virgin Galactic would be from New Mexico

According to CNN, the race would be one of Titans in the form of Sir Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos. Both are billionaires and only a few can afford the luxury of being a space tourist. Anyway, Virgin Galactic announced that Branson would attempt to fly in its plane on July 11. That would be several days before the planned date of Bezos. If Branson succeeds, it would make him the first billionaire to Travel to space.

That too aboard a spacecraft he funded. Incidentally, he would be on the next test flight of Virgin Galactic and it would be out of New Mexico. As far as Blue Origin goes, Jeff Bezos said in June that he would fly alongside his brother Mark. The bottom line is clear. Space tourism is a costly affair and it would appeal to a select group.
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