Richard Branson went to space and beat Jeff Bezos in the billionaire race

British billionaire Richard Branson has finally become the first tycoon to travel to space in a ship of his own company. This Sunday, he reached a height of 80 kilometers with four of his employees, and thus won the space race against Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.

The take-off took place in New Mexico, in the southwestern United States, and the flight had no other purpose than to spend a few minutes in zero gravity, before coming back to earth.

Branson, with his company Virgin Galactic, seeks to propel the nascent space tourism industry. But he also wanted to outdo his competitor, the American Bezos, by snatching the title of the first billionaire to cross the space frontier thanks to the ship of a company he founded.

After a one and a half hour delay due to weather conditions, the company spacecraft took off from Spaceport America at around 8:40 a.m. local time mounted on the VMS Eve propellant and with its six crew on board. including Branson, the founder of the company.

The plane, similar in size to a private jet, was fluidly separated from the craft VMS Standby, named after Branson’s mother, after reaching a height of about 10,000 feet (just over 3 kilometers), then continued her journey to the frontiers of space and 80 kilometers above the surface of the earth.

“A great day ahead. Great to start the morning with a friend,” Branson tweeted two hours before takeoff alongside a photo of himself and SpaceX chef Elon Musk posing barefoot in a kitchen.

Bezos’ big rival Musk had indicated on Saturday that he would attend the event.

“I feel good, excited and prepared,” added Branson, who had a very specific mission on his trip: to test and evaluate the experience that his future customers will have.

Other billionaires have already been to space in the 2000s, but on Russian rockets.

After the engine was shut down, the company reported that the passengers had been dislodged from their seats and they floated for a few minutes in zero gravity, admiring the curvature of the Earth from one of the 12 cockpit windows.

Then, after reaching a maximum altitude of about 90 km, the ship slipped and the successful landing took place at 10:40 local time, on a runway at Spaceport America Air Force Base.

Branson, as he flew, described the experience as “unique in life”.

The eccentric 70-year-old billionaire, founder of the Virgin Group – whose activities range from airlines to sports – has long cultivated a cheeky image, with many sporting exploits.

“When I was a kid I wanted to go to space. As it seemed unlikely to my generation, I registered the name Virgin Galactic, with the idea of ​​starting a business that would make that possible,” wrote Richard Branson a few. a few days ago.

A goal that almost failed in 2014: the mid-flight accident of a Virgin Galactic spacecraft resulted in the death of a pilot, significantly delaying the program.

Since, VSS Unity hit space three times, in 2018 and 2019, with pilots on board and even a passenger in 2019.

After Sunday, Virgin Galactic plans two more test flights, see you later start regular business operations by early 2022. And in the long term, it aims to make 400 flights per year from Spaceport America.

Some 600 tickets have already been sold to people from 60 different countries, including Hollywood celebrities, for a price of between $ 200,000 and $ 250,000.

Although Branson keeps repeating that “space belongs to everyone”, the adventure remains within the grasp of the privileged few.

“When I come back (from space), I will be announcing something very exciting so that more people can become astronauts,” he promised.

Competition in the space tourism sector, which has been announced for years to start, has accelerated precipitously this month: the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, also should take off on July 20 with his own rocket, named New Shepard and developed by his company Blue Origin.

The firm exercised its merits Friday against those of Virgin Galactic. This Sunday, however, Bezos wished Richard Branson “a successful robbery” on his Instagram account.

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