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Egypt Independent
Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson blasted off aboard his own rocket ship, on Sunday, in his boldest, grandest adventure yet.
The thrill-seeking billionaire joined five company employees assigned to the test flight to the edge of space, high above the Southern desert of New Mexico.
Branson dramatically counted down the days to lift-off via Twitter. He viewed the brief up-and-down trip as a confidence builder, not only for the 600-plus people already holding reservations and waiting in the wings, but potential space tourists willing to plunk down a few hundred-thousand dollars for a shot at space.
The London-born founder of the Virgin Group, who turns 71 this week, wasn’t supposed to fly until later this summer. However, he assigned himself to an earlier flight after Blue Origin’s, Jeff Bezos, announced planned to ride his own rocket into space from West Texas on 20 July.
Virgin Galactic doesn’t expect to start flying customers before next year. Blue Origin has yet to open ticket sales or even announce prices. Blue Origin boasted, late last week, via Twitter that it would take clients higher and offer bigger windows.
Unlike Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which launch capsules atop reusable booster rockets, Virgin Galactic uses a twin-fuselage aircraft to get its rocket ship aloft. The space plane is released from the mothership about 44,000 feet (13,400 meters) up, then fires its rocket motor to streak straight to space. Maximum altitude is roughly 55 miles (70 kilometres), with three to four minutes of weightlessness provided.
The rocket plane, which requires two pilots, glides to a runway landing at its Spaceport American base.
Virgin Galactic reached space for the first time in 2018, repeating the feat in 2019 and again last May, each time with a minimal crew. It received permission from the Federal Aviation Administration last month to start launching customers.
