Richard Branson is joining the space tourism competition, following in the footsteps of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Branson’s company, Virgin Galactic, plans to launch its maiden commercial flight on Thursday, taking four paying customers around 250,000 feet above the Earth’s surface. However, Musk and Bezos have already sent paying customers into space in recent years. With a combined net worth of $379.3 billion, these “space barons” are in a race for galactic supremacy, and only time will tell who will come out on top.
Virgin Galactic takes a unique approach to space travel by using a plane that attaches to a larger carrier craft and is released at a certain altitude. Branson has faced challenges in the past, including a major failure in 2014 when Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo crashed, resulting in the death of a co-pilot. Despite setbacks, Branson became the first billionaire in space when he took a test flight on the VSS Unity in July 2021.
Recently, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigated a deviation during one of Virgin Galactic’s flights, but the issue has been resolved, and the company successfully sent a test crew above Earth’s surface in preparation for their first commercial mission.
Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, has not personally been to space but has sent paying customers to Earth’s orbit and the International Space Station. SpaceX was founded in 2002 and has made significant advancements in rocket technology, including the development of reusable rockets. Musk’s company has been awarded contracts with NASA and has successfully launched astronauts to the International Space Station.
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Blue Origin, started his company in pursuit of his childhood dream of spaceflight. Bezos envisions a future where millions of people live and work in space. Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket is named after the first American to go to space, Alan Shepard. After years of development, the company successfully launched and landed New Shepard numerous times. In July 2021, Bezos and a group of passengers, including the youngest person in space and a former NASA trainee, reached 66 miles above Earth’s surface. Blue Origin has also secured a contract with NASA, bringing them closer to their goal of reaching the moon.
In the race for space tourism, Branson, Musk, and Bezos are competing to make their mark in the industry. Each of their companies has faced challenges along the way, but they continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in space exploration.
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