Branson Strikes First In The Billionaire Space Race
No, we haven’t gone back in time to the 1960’s, but the Space Race is very much back on. This time, instead of two national superpowers competing for bragging rights, the battle is being contested between two of the world’s most recognisable billionaires; Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos, who are attempting to pave the way for long anticipated industry of space tourism. The pair are playing coy about the suggestion there is any kind of ‘rivalry’ between them but there have to been clear signs of jockeying between the two men and their companies. Sunday evening marked the first real notch in the favour of Branson, as his manned Virgin Galactic rocket soared into the sky to an altitude of 88km and settled in space for a brief period of 15 minutes before returning safely to Earth. Branson, who himself was aboard the landmark mission, had originally slated his rocket to launch this manned mission for sometime later this year, but moved the date forward to leapfrog Bezos on the calendar (pure coincidence, I’m sure).
Branson’s pursuit of success in the realm of space-flight hasn’t come without it’s struggles, as a serious malfunction in 2014, which resulted in one fatality, put the future of Virgin Galactic in doubt. However, yesterday’s successful mission puts Branson’s dream of pioneering commercialised space tourism one step closer to becoming a reality. Sunday’s successful mission means it’s all systems go for Virgin Galactic, who have already made over 600 reservations for their inaugural tourist flights, which first went for an eye-popping $250,000 a seat.
The British business magnate made sure to make a show of the occasion, livestreaming the launch and inviting entertainment stars Khalid and Stephen Colbert to perform. His rival Bezos, who’s own space-travel company Blue Origin will be putting an aircraft into flight in just over a weeks’ time, congratulated Branson and Virgin Galactic on their successful mission on social media (likely through gritted teeth). The pleasantries come only two days after Blue Origin’s Twitter account appeared to take a dig at Virgin Galactic’s flight, indirectly suggested that their mission would have an ‘asterisks’ attached to it for not crossing what some official standards consider the Kármán line (the measurement that separates Earth’s atmosphere from outer space). I mean, we shouldn’t really be expecting the uber competitive billionaires to playing too friendly now, should we?
Images courtesy of Virgin Galactic