Famous British billionaire Richard Branson, who is one of the top 5 richest people in the UK, recently awed the world by finally accomplishing his space dream this Sunday. After over 16 years of hard work and an investment of more than one billion dollars, he flew into space in the Virgin Galactic Vessel.
Many people around the world witnessed this spectacle on live stream, on various popular social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. He called his space voyage “experience of a lifetime” and is quite optimistic about the future of space tourism.
Richard Branson’s Love for Adventure
Richard Branson has always been well known for his outstanding achievements. He was awarded by the UN for his philanthropy and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth as well. He even owns the “Necker Island” in the Caribbean and offers people a chance to experience the ocean in his open-cockpit winged submarine called the “Necker Nymph”.
Branson has always had a love for adventure, cheating death and exploring the many possibilities of life. After all, he is the oldest person to have kite surfed across the English Channel. He also loves to break world records.
The Take Off
The Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Unity and the carrier aircraft VMS Eve took off from the publicly funded commercial spaceport in the Jornada del Muerto desert. He named the VMS Eve after his mother, Eve, who happened to pass away in January due to covid complications.
He shared that it was always his dream as a child to fly in space. He founded the Virgin Galactic in 2004 and has come a long way from there. His mother, Eve, remains a source of inspiration for him as he recounts her story of how she disguised herself as a boy and enlisted herself in the Women’s Royal Naval Service during World War 2.
The Landing
After enjoying the voyage, the SpaceShipTwo Unity landed near the same spot where the VMS Eve had launched one hour before, and Branson was elated to hug his loved ones and mark his victory. He also received support from his SpaceX boss Elon Musk for his success.
It is also quite the coincidence that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is about to fly on Blue Origin’s first crewed rocket to space. Although Branson says there is no competition between the two, the timing has undoubtedly been quite fascinating.
Space Tourism
We might certainly see space tourism becoming more common in the years to come. In fact, around 600 tickets have already been sold for the next space voyages, the tickets ranging anywhere between 200,000 to 250,000 dollars. Branson is even hosting the Omaze contest, where the two winners get an opportunity to visit space in the upcoming flight.
In Conclusion
Richard Branson, even at the age of 70, has no loss of appetite when it comes to adventure and dreaming big. He has always aimed for the democratization of space and for developing solutions to the various problems that the world faces today.
