Billionaire Richard Branson reaches space on his own ship, part of India-born Sirisha Bandla crew

Swashbuckling entrepreneur Richard Branson reached space aboard his own winged rocket ship on Sunday, overtaking fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos.

About 71-year-old Branson and five crew from his Virgin Galactic space-tourism company reached an altitude of about 53 miles (88 kilometers) above the New Mexico desert—enough to experience three to four minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of Earth. – and then glided safely to a runway landing.

“The whole thing, it was just magical,” a jubilant Branson said after traveling home in a gleaming white space plane named Unity.

The brief, up-and-down flight—the rocket ship part took only 15 minutes, or so until Alan Shepard’s first American space flight in 1961—was a spectacular and immaculate commercial plug for Virgin Galactic, which plans to begin paying making. Customers on Joyrides next year.

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Branson became the first person to explode in his own spaceship, defeating Bezos by nine days. He also became only the second septuagenarian to go into space. Astronaut John Glenn flew on the shuttle in 1998 at the age of 77.

Bezos congratulated: “Can’t wait to join the club!” — though he also took to Twitter earlier this week to enumerate the ways it believed his company’s ride would improve.

With about 500 people in view, including Branson’s family, a twin-fuselage plane with Unity mounted under it took off in the first leg of the flight. Unity then separated from the mother ship at an altitude of about 8 miles (13 kilometers) and fired its engines, reaching more than Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound, as it traveled through space. pierced the edge.

The spectators erupted in joy, jumped in the air and hugged as the rocket plane came down. Branson clenched his fists as he walked the runway and ran to his family, hugged his wife and children, and held his three grandchildren in his arms.

“It was an amazing achievement,” said former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, once commander of the International Space Station. “I’m just so happy with what this open door is leading to now. It’s a great moment.”

Virgin Galactic conducted three previous test flights into space with a crew of only two or three.

The London-born Virgin Atlantic Airways founder was not scheduled to fly until the end of this summer. But that’s when Bezos assigned himself an earlier flight after announcing plans to ride his own rocket into space from Texas on July 20, the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Branson denied that he was trying to topple Bezos.

Branson’s other main competitor in the space-tourism race among the world’s richest men, SpaceX’s Elon Musk, arrived in New Mexico to watch the flight, congratulating Branson via Twitter, “Godspeed!”

Bezos’s Blue Origin company intends to send tourists 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth over the so-called Karman Line, which is recognized by the International Aviation and Aerospace Associations as the threshold of space.

But NASA, the Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration and some astrophysicists consider the boundary between the atmosphere and space to start at 50 miles (80 kilometers) above.

The risk to Branson and his crew was outlined in 2007, when a rocket motor test in California’s Mojave Desert killed three workers, and in 2014, when a Virgin Galactic rocket plane broke down during a test flight. , in which one pilot was killed and seriously injured. other.

Ever the showman, Branson hurried to a global livestream of Sunday morning’s flight and invited celebrities and former space station astronauts to the company’s Spaceport America base in New Mexico.

R&B singer Khaled performed his new single “New Normal” – marking the beginning of space tourism – while CBS “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert served as master of ceremonies.

Before boarding the ship, Branson, who flew a kite over the English Channel and attempted to circumnavigate the globe in a hot air balloon, signed the astronaut log book and wisely wrote: “Name of Branson. Sir Richard Branson. Astronaut Double-Oh-One. Thrill license. “

Upon his return to Earth, he announced a sweepstakes drawing for two seats on the Virgin Galactic jaunt once the tourist flights began.

Virgin Galactic already has more than 600 reservations from space tourists, with tickets starting at $250,000. Blue Origin is waiting for Bezos’ flight before announcing its ticket prices.

Kerrion Flynn, who signed up in 2011 to fly with Virgin Galactic, had butterflies ahead of Sunday’s launch.

“I think there’s going to be nothing like going up there and looking back down on earth, which I think I’m most excited about,” she said. She continued: “Hopefully the next generation will be able to figure out what’s going on out there.”

Musk’s SpaceX, which is already launching astronauts to the space station for NASA and building Moon and Mars ships, plans to take tourists on more than just brief, up-and-down trips is. Instead they will go into orbit around Earth for several days, with seats costing in the millions. The company’s first private flight is scheduled for September.

Musk himself hasn’t committed to going to space anytime soon.

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