Branson Goes To Space Motivates Jeff Bezos And Elon Musk Soon To Follow

JAKARTA - Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos congratulated Virgin Galactic owner Richard Branson on his maiden flight into space, Sunday, July 11.

Bezos, who is also the founder of Amazon, will be making his own trip on July 20, the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

'@richardbransonand crew, congratulations on the flight. Can't wait to join the club!' Bezos posted to Instagram on Monday, July 12.

Prior to the flight, Bezos had posted a photo of Branson with the caption: “Wishing you and the rest of the team a successful and safe flight tomorrow. Good luck!'

Bezos will travel with his younger brother Mark, as well as the winner of the $28 million charity auction and pioneering female astronaut Wally Funk, 82.

Blue Origin passengers will spend at least 10 minutes floating in zero gravity inside the capsule during the suborbital sightseeing journey. As for Richard Branson and crew, only 4 minutes!

Blue Origin named the program New Shepard, after astronaut Alan Shepard, who was the first American to fly into space 60 years ago.

This flight will mark a major milestone in the mission to send paying customers to the edge of outer space, in what is now an industry known as 'space tourism'.

Branson himself has 'won the space race' by overtaking Bezos in just nine days. Meanwhile, SpaceX founder Elon Musk also tweeted, “Congratulations, beautiful flight!'

Branson and crew aren't actually scheduled to fly until the end of this summer. However, he seems to keep trying to advance his flight. Bezos has already announced plans to fly his own plane into space from Texas on July 20.

Branson, Bezos, and Musk, who have net worths that exceed $380 billion combined, have poured nearly unlimited resources into their respective space startups in hopes of revolutionizing aerospace travel.

The group all said they were inspired by the first moon landing in 1969, when the US defeated the Soviet Union in the space race. They state how much it means to win the 'new space race'.

Meanwhile, SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has also stated that he immediately wants to go to space, and even wants to 'die on Mars'. But he has not said when he will launch the craft into orbit.