Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson Aims to Fly to Space Before Jeff Bezos

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson Aims to Fly to Space Before Jeff Bezos

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It looks like Richard Branson could beat fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos to space next month.

Virgin Galactic is working on a plan to send Branson on a suborbital flight aboard the VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo rocket plane over the July 4 holiday weekend, according to a source who requested anonymity. The flight is contingent upon obtaining an operator’s license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

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[Still Waters]

Sir Richard Branson gains licence for commercial spaceflights

Sir Richard Branson has received the licence he needs to fly paying customers to the edge of space in his Virgin Galactic rocket plane.

The approval was granted on Friday by the US Federal Aviation Administration.

It updates an existing licence that had permitted Sir Richard's company to conduct test flights only.

The UK entrepreneur has some 600 people waiting to take a ride to a height of 90km, to experience weightlessness and to see the curvature of the Earth.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57611550

[Saru]

I didn't realize Branson was planning to fly on July 4th - looks like it's going to be close.

That said, Blue Origin is likely to be the first to launch a commercial flight (with a paying passenger) - Branson's will still be a test flight.