Virgin Galactic's billionaire CEO Richard Branson took a weekend trip to the edge of the space in his VSS Unity spaceplane, along with three company employees on Sunday a little after 10.30 a.m. ET (8 p.m. India time). Embarking this new era in the space age, Branson shared an important video message as he was looking down to "our beautiful earth."
Besides Branson, the flight included Beth Moses, Chief Astronaut Instructor, Colin Bennett, lead Operations Engineer, and Indian-origin Sirisha Bandla, Vice President of Government Affairs at Virgin Galactic. Their glimpses can be seen in the video Branson shot from inside the spaceplane.
Branson had said that as a child he dreamt of space, and 17 years after he founded his own space company Virgin Galactic in 2004, the 70-year-old was flying to space. Branson touched the edge of the space called the Karman line, 100 kms above the ground, is the boundary of space.
"My mission statement is to turn the dream of space travel into a reality - for my grandchildren, for your grandchildren, for everyone," Branson had shared, in a tweet before his spaceflight.
A message from the space
As he safely landed back to Earth, a video of Branson from the spaceplane has gone viral. The 70-year-old billionaire shared an important message for the "next generation of dreamers" as he once was himself.
I was once a child with a dream looking up to the stars. Now I'm an adult in a spaceship looking down to our beautiful Earth. To the next generation of dreamers: if we can do this, just imagine what you can do https://t.co/Wyzj0nOBgX #Unity22 @virgingalactic pic.twitter.com/03EJmKiH8V
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) July 11, 2021
"I was once a child with a dream looking up to the stars. Now I'm an adult in a spaceship looking down to our beautiful Earth. To the next generation of dreamers: if we can do this, just imagine what you can do," Branson is heard saying in the video, just before demonstrating weightlessness inside the spaceplane due to zero gravity.
Virgin Galactic aims to fly two more flights, before starting regular commercial operations from early 2022. The ultimate goal is to conduct 400 flights per year. The company has already sold nearly 600 tickets, with each ticket costing nearly $250,000.
Given the high cost of the space ticket, Branson also announced that Virgin Atlantic will partner with Omaze to two lucky winners.
"Every charitable donation goes to support Space For Humanity and you'll be entered into the Omaze sweepstake for the chance to win two seats aboard one of the first commercial Virgin Galactic space flights," Branson said further.
