'I've dreamt of this moment since I was kid': Sir Richard Branson, 70, receives his astronaut wings after completing historic space flight on Virgin Galactic rocket ship - and beats billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in race to the stars
- British billionaire Sir Richard Branson has become the second oldest man to travel to space at the age of 70
- Branson, one of six Virgin Galactic crew members onboard VSS Unity, beat rivals Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk
- Spacecraft took off from Spaceport America in New Mexico 90 minutes later than expected due to weather Sir Richard Branson today became the first billionaire in space, celebrating the 'experience of a lifetime' with his wife, children and grandchildren who greeted him on the tarmac after his Virgin Galactic spacecraft returned from a flight through the edge of the Earth's atmosphere.
The 70-year-old British entrepreneur pumped his fists in the air as he stepped onto the runway in New Mexico before skipping towards his daughter Holly's twins Etta and Artie and scooping them up in his arms.
Branson, who said he had dreamed about travelling to space since childhood, shared a group hug with the rest of his family including his wife Joan Templeman, his son Sam and granddaughter Eva-Deia.
He was one of six Virgin Galactic employees aboard VSS Unity for the voyage to 280,000ft.
Speaking to a crowd of spectators afterwards, a jubilant Branson said: 'Like most kids, I have dreamt of this moment since I was kid. But nothing can prepare you for the view of Earth from space, the whole thing was just magical.'
He added that he was 'so honoured to test the customer experience.' The brief, up-and-down flight was intended as a confidence-boosting plug for Virgin Galactic, which plans to start taking paying customers on joyrides next year.
Footage streamed live online showed the Virgin Galactic in the air at about 3.45pm UK time, and the aircraft had reached 40,000 feet by 4pm. The spacecraft was carried up into the atmosphere by its mothership before being released so it could power up to highs of 250,000ft.
Sir Richard and his crew reached speeds of Mach 3 on their way to the edge of space. After a short spell during which they experienced weightlessness, the craft then pointed downwards and made its way back to the ground, touching down around 4.40pm.
On the return flight, Sir Richard hailed the 'experience of a lifetime' and the 'hard, hard work' that went into the flight.
Sir Richard is the first person to enter space in their own vessel, a feat he accomplished nine days before Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to ride his own rocket ship - New Shepard - into space from Texas on July 20.
The business magnate sent his congratulations following the successful flight, writing: 'Can't wait to join the club!' However, he earlier took to Twitter to describe the ways he believes his company's rides will be more successful.
The 70-year-old British entrepreneur pumped his fists in the air as he stepped onto the runway in New Mexico before skipping towards his daughter Holly's twins Etta and Artie and scooping them up in his arms
Sir Richard Branson was greeted by his wife, children and grandchildren when his Virgin Galactic spacecraft returned from a flight through the edge of the Earth's atmosphere
Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson, left, sprays champagne to crew members Beth Moses and Colin Bennett, right, while celebrating their flight to space from Spaceport America
Astronaut Sir Richard Branson has inaugurated the dawn of the age of space tourism by becoming the first billionaire to make it into space after the 70-year-old Virgin Galactic founder took off on a flight to the edge of Earth's atmosphere in the VSS Unity plane
The flamboyant British entrepreneur has seen off rivals Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk after his game-changing mission took off from a spaceport in New Mexico, US following a 90-minute delay caused by weather overnight as millions watched on a live stream from around the globe
Sir Richard, who has dreamed of travelling to space ever since the Cold War competition between the US and the Soviet that took place while he was a child, was one of six Virgin Galactic Holding Inc employees on board the space plane attached underneath the twin-fuselage aircraft
Posting a photo of himself with space-tourism rival Elon Musk, Sir Richard tweeted: 'It's a beautiful day to go to space.' Before climbing aboard, he signed the astronaut log book and wisecracked: 'The name's Branson. Sir Richard Branson. Astronaut 001. License to thrill'
Sir Richard Branson floats in zero gravity on board Virgin Galactic's passenger rocket plane VSS Unity after reaching the edge of space above Spaceport America
Sir Richard Branson (left) is set to become the first billionaire to leave earth in a rocket today as he will join the crew of Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity which will launch from mothership VMS Eve on July 11, with a live stream of the event starting at 2pm
Pictured: The Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo space plane Unity flies at Spaceport America, near Truth and Consequences, New Mexico on July 11, 2021 before travel to the cosmos with Sir Richard Branson onboard with five other crew members
The Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo space plane Unity flies at Spaceport America before travel to the cosmos
Take off: Sir Richard Branson and five Virgin Galactic crew members are onboard the VSS Unity which has now taken off
Spectators cheers as the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo space plane Unity takes off at Spaceport America this afternoon
British billionaire Richard Branson waves as he arrives at a base in Las Cruces, New Mexico, ahead of the launch today
Sir Richard Branson has revealed the uniforms were deliberately designed to reflect his love of the Star Trek series. He is pictured with fellow crew members Dave Mackay, Colin Bennett, Beth Moses, Sirisha Bandla and pilot Michael MasucciMike Moses, a top executive at Virgin Galactic, said the flight was 'perfect' aside from some issues with the transmission of images from inside the cabin. He added the spacecraft looked pristine upon its return.
'That was an amazing accomplishment,' former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, a one-time commander of the International Space Station, said. 'I'm just so delighted at what this open door is going to lead to now. It's a great moment.'
Michael Colglazier, chief executive of Virgin Galactic, added: 'This is a landmark moment for Virgin Galactic. It's a landmark moment for the new commercial space industry and it certainly is a landmark moment for our founder Richard Branson.'
He said the company's work was dedicated to 'opening up space to all'.
Posting a photo of himself with space-tourism rival Elon Musk, Sir Richard tweeted: 'It's a beautiful day to go to space.' Before climbing aboard, he signed the astronaut log book and wisecracked: 'The name's Branson. Sir Richard Branson. Astronaut 001. License to thrill.'
Sir Richard was not supposed to fly until later this summer, but he assigned himself to an earlier flight after Bezos announced plans to ride his own rocket ship into space from Texas on July 20. More than 600 people have already made reservations for a £180,000 ride into space with Virgin Galactic, founded in 2004.
The flamboyant billionaire, who was pictured cycling to the facility this morning, is the second oldest person to travel to space - after 77-year-old John Glenn in 1998.
Sir Richard told the Times newspaper earlier today the view alone will be worth the £1billion he has spent on the project, and added: 'I think it's one of the reasons that people want to become astronauts. They want to look back at this beautiful Earth.
'Every astronaut I've known has come back determined that the rest of their lives will be spent working harder to protect the planet that we live on.'
Sir Richard is travelling on VSS Unity, which launched from mothership VMS Eve with a live stream of the event starting at 3.30pm (09:00 ET) from Spaceport America in New Mexico.
The launch was delayed by 90 minutes due to bad weather in the area which arrived overnight which delayed the start of flight preparations. Once it reaches 50,000 feet the carrier plane releases Unity, a reusable, winged spacecraft designed to carry six passengers and two pilots into space.
Once released Unity's rocket motor engages 'within seconds', according to Virgin Galactic.
The craft will then fly approximately three and a half times the speed of sound (2,600mph/4,300kph) into suborbital space, reaching up to 360,890ft (110,000 metres) above the Earth's surface.
Richard Branson holds up photos that he brought with him into space, as he speaks after flying into space aboard a Virgin Galactic vessel, a voyage he described as the 'experience of a lifetime'
Sir Richard speaks at a news conference after flying with a crew in Virgin Galactic's passenger rocket plane VSS Unity to the edge of space at Spaceport America
Sir Richard was not supposed to fly until later this summer, but he assigned himself to an earlier flight after Bezos announced plans to ride his own rocket ship into space from Texas on July 20
The flamboyant billionaire, who was pictured cycling to the facility this morning, is the second oldest person to travel to space - after 77-year-old John Glenn in 1998
Pictured: Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic crew members enter the company's passenger rocket plane, the VSS Unity, in a previous inspection taken at Spaceport America near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, which was issued earlier this year
Virgin Galactic's passenger rocket plane, the VSS Unity, is seen in its hangar at Spaceport America in the state of New Mexico
Always a fan of making an entrance, Sir Richard Branson was filmed arriving at the facility on his bike earlier today (pictured)
Richard Branson(L) receives some cards from children as he walks out from Spaceport America ahead of the launch today
He has been joined by chief pilot David Mackay, a Scottish-born test pilot for the Royal Air Force who went on to fly for Sir Richard's Virgin Atlantic, and chief flight instructor Michael Masucci.
Also onboard is chief astronaut instructor Beth Moses, a former NASA engineer, lead operations engineer Colin Bennett and Sirisha Bandla, a company vice president. The six will grab a lift from mothership pilots C.J. Sturckow, a former NASA astronaut, and Kelly Latimer.
A discount travel service it is not. But demand is apparently strong, with several hundred wealthy would-be citizen astronauts already having booked reservations, priced at around £180,000 per ticket (around $250,000).
The Swiss-based investment bank UBS has estimated the potential value of the space tourism market reaching $3 billion annually by 2030.
Proving rocket travel safe for the public is key, given the inherent dangers of spaceflight.
An earlier prototype of the Virgin Galactic rocket plane crashed during a test flight over California's Mojave Desert in 2014, killing one pilot and seriously injuring another.
Sir Richard's extraordinary trip is one week before his 71st birthday, and he was joined by five others on what has been dubbed the Unit 22 test flight - as it is the 22nd test flight for the spaceplane.
The British billionaire launched on the first of the three test flights carrying a full complement of 'astronauts' in the cabin, before they begin flying the first of 600 'future astronaut' ticket holders in 2022.
Sir Richard is Astronaut 001 is travelling with Chief Astronaut Beth Moses (Astronaut 002), Lead Operations Engineer Colin Bennett (Astronaut 003) and VP of Government Affairs Sirisha Bandla (Astronaut 004) in the cabin.
The London-born founder of the Virgin Group wasn't supposed to fly until later this summer. But he assigned himself to an earlier flight after Blue Origin's Jeff Bezos announced plans to ride his own rocket into space from West Texas on July 20.
Virgin Galactic doesn't expect to start flying customers before next year. Blue Origin has yet to open ticket sales or even announce prices, but late last week boasted via Twitter that it would take clients higher and offer bigger windows.
Unlike Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX, which launch capsules atop reusable booster rockets, Virgin Galactic uses a twin-fuselage aircraft to get its rocket ship aloft.
The space plane is released from the mothership about 44,000 feet (13,400 meters) up, then fires its rocket motor to streak straight to space. Maximum altitude is roughly 55 miles (70 kilometers), with three to four minutes of weightlessness provided.
The rocket plane - which requires two pilots - glides to a runway landing at its Spaceport America base.
Speaking to a crowd of spectators after the flight, a jubilant Branson said: 'Like most kids, I have dreamt of this moment since I was kid. But nothing can prepare you for the view of Earth from space, the whole thing was just magical'
He added that he was 'so honoured to test the customer experience.' The brief, up-and-down flight was intended as a confidence-boosting plug for Virgin Galactic, which plans to start taking paying customers on joyrides next year
Video streamed live online showed the Virgin Galactic in the air at about 3.45pm UK time, and the aircraft had reached 40,000 feet by 4pm. The spacecraft was carried up into the atmosphere by its mothership before being released so it could power up to highs of 250,000 feet
Virgin Galactic reached space for the first time in 2018, repeating the feat in 2019 and again this past May, each time with a minimal crew. It received permission from the Federal Aviation Administration last month to start launching customers.
Meanwhile, Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos will launch to the edge of space on the New Shepherd rocket on July 20 - the 52nd anniversary of the first moon landing.
Sir Richard denied that he and Bezos were in a 'battle of the billionaire space founders' to see who would go up first, despite changing from the second to the first VSS Unity test flight in order to go up before Bezos.
The 70-year-old said he was going into space to 'test the customer experience' from start to finish, to ensure that those paying to go up get the best possible experience.
It is the fourth crewed flight of VSS Unity and only the second to include passengers in the cabin. The first saw Beth Moses go up in February 2019.
The news that Sir Richard would go up on this flight came soon after the FCC granted Virgin Galactic a change to their operator license that allowed them to take paying travellers up to the edge of space.
'After a successful flight in late May and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval for a Full Commercial Launch License, the pathway towards commercial launch is clear,' Sir Richard said prior to the launch.
'Virgin Galactic still has tests to come, and this is the time for me to assess the astronaut experience.
Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson, right, is greeted by school children before heading to the edge of space
Pilots walk out from Spaceport America before travel to the cosmos with British billionaire Richard Branson on board
Sirisha Bandla, Virgin Galactic's vice president of government affairs and research operations, arrives at the facility today
Pictured: Inside the Virgin Galactic spacecraft with the seats rotated back while in space during a previous test flight
'When we return, I will announce something very exciting to give more people the chance to become an astronaut. Because space belongs to us all. So watch this space,' said Sir Richard in a blog post before the launch.'
This latest launch is the first of three final flights required to test all aspects of the cabin and passenger experience, with Sir Richard saying he got 'truly excited' when the final safety checks came through and he was asked if he wanted to go into space.
'I've been looking forward to this for 17 years,' Sir Richard said from Spaceport America near the remote town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
He said pre-flight preparations only added to the excitement ahead of Sunday's scheduled launch, which will be taking place one week before his 71st birthday. 'Every bit about it is a pinch-me moment,' he added.
For the first flight that included someone in the cabin, Chief Astronaut Beth Moses went up into space alone, only accompanied by the two pilots in the cockpit.
'We are at the vanguard of a new industry determined to pioneer twenty-first century spacecraft, which will open space to everybody - and change the world for good,' Sir Richard declared.
In a blog post on the run up to the flight, Sir Richard wrote: 'It's one thing to have a dream of making space more accessible to all; it's another for an incredible team to collectively turn that dream into reality.
The Operations Center of Spaceport America pictured as Branson travels to the edge of space in passenger rocket plane
'As part of a remarkable crew of mission specialists, I'm honoured to help validate the journey our future astronauts will undertake and ensure we deliver the unique customer experience people expect from Virgin.'
Virgin Galactic said the aim of the latest flight is to evaluate the commercial customer cabin, to test the environment, seat comfort, weightless experience and view of the Earth from space.
This is 'all to ensure every moment of the astronaut's journey maximises the wonder and awe created by space travel,' the firm wrote.
They are also demonstrating the conditions for conducting human-tended research experiments, a new area of business opened up for the space firm.
They have already sent a payload up for NASA and next year will send Kellie Gerardi, a researcher for the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS), up on VSS Unity to monitor experiments.
The crew will also work to confirm the training program at Spaceport America supports the spaceflight experience, before customers go up.
HOW DOES RICHARD BRANSON'S VIRGIN GALACTIC CONDUCT ITS SPACE FLIGHTS?
Unlike other commercial spaceflight companies, such as Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic initiates its flights without using a traditional rocket launch.
Instead, the firm launches its passenger-laden SpaceShipTwo and other craft from a carrier plane, dubbed WhiteKnightTwo.
WhiteKnightTwo is a custom-built, four-engine, dual-fuselage jet aircraft, designed to carry SpaceShipTwo up to an altitude of around 50,000 feet (15,240 metres).
The first WhiteKnightTwo, VMS Eve - which Virgin Galactic has used on all of its test flights - was rolled-out in 2008 and has a high-altitude, heavy payload capacity.
Unlike other commercial spaceflight companies, such as Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic initiates its flights without using a traditional rocket launch. Instead, the firm launches its passenger-laden SpaceShipTwo and other craft from a carrier plane, dubbed WhiteKnightTwo. Once SpaceShipTwo has propelled itself into space its engines shut off for a period of weightlessness before returning home
Once it reaches 50,000 feet (15,240 metres) the carrier plane releases SpaceShipTwo, a reusable, winged spacecraft designed to carry six passengers and two pilots into space.
Virgin Galactic has named its first SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity - the craft that the company has used in all of its test flights - though the firm is expected to build more in future.
Once released from WhiteKnightTwo, SpaceShipTwo's rocket motor engages 'within seconds', according to Virgin Galactic.
The craft will then fly approximately three and a half times the speed of sound (2,600mph/4,300kph) into suborbital space, reaching up to 360,890ft (110,000 metres) above the Earth's surface.
WhiteKnightTwo (artist's impression) is a custom-built, four-engine, dual-fuselage jet aircraft, designed to carry SpaceShipTwo up to an altitude of around 50,000 feet (15,240 metres)
This altitude is defined as beyond the edge of outer space by Nasa.
After the rocket motor has fired for around a minute, the pilots will shut it down, and passengers can then take off their seatbelts to experience weightlessness for several minutes.
The pilots will manoeuvre the spaceship to give the best possible views of Earth and space while raising the vehicle's wings to its 'feathered' re-entry configuration, which decelerates the craft and stabilises its descent.
As gravity pulls the spaceship back towards the Earth's upper atmosphere, astronauts will return to their seats ready to return to our planet.
At around 50,000 feet (15,240 metres), after re-entry, the pilot will return the spaceship's wings to their normal configuration, ready to glide back to Earth for a smooth runway landing.
Once it reaches 50,000 feet (15,240 metres) the carrier plane releases SpaceShipTwo, a reusable, winged spacecraft designed to carry six passengers and two pilots into space. Virgin Galactic has named its first SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity (pictured) - the craft that the company has used in all of its test flights - though the firm is expected to produce more in future
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