Not Wanting Bezos Ahead, Richard Branson Is Scheduled To Fly Into Space July 11

Richard Branson (third from right) with colleagues who will accompany him to fly into outer space. (photo: Richard Branson's Instagram)

JAKARTA – Conglomerate Richard Branson will travel to the edge of space on a test flight of Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (SPCE.N) on July 11. This schedule was submitted by space tourism company Branson on Thursday July 2nd. Branson, is very ambitious to beat fellow aspiring astronaut billionaire Jeff Bezos.

Branson's successful flight aboard Virgin's VSS Unity spacecraft will mark a significant milestone in the race to usher in a new era of private commercial space travel.

It also means that Branson will travel beyond Earth's atmosphere early ahead of Bezos, founder of rival space tourism venture Blue Origin.

Bezos, who founded retail giant Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), is scheduled to fly into space on July 20 with his brother Mark, pioneering female pilot Wally Funk and an anonymous person who has so far spent $28 million on join in that suborbital joyride.

Reuters reported last month that Branson was considering a stealth mission just days ahead of Bezos' planned trip.

Their race also includes SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk. This further adds to the optimism that space travel will become mainstream. The birth of new technology that has proven to keep costs down has fueled what UBS estimates could become a $3 billion annual tourism market by 2030. Musk himself has yet to set a date for his spaceflight with SpaceX.

"Virgin Galactic stands at the forefront of a new commercial space industry, one that will open space for humanity and change the world forever," Branson said in a statement published by Virgin.

The Branson mission on July 11 will be the twenty-second test flight for VSS Unity. As well as a space flight with a fourth crew for the company.

But this mission will be the first to carry a full crew of two pilots and four "mission specialists", including Branson.

Two additional test flights are planned before Virgin begins commercial service in 2022.