Richard Branson Virgin Galactic ‘weeks’ from space launch, Bezos waits

Richard
Branson, chairman of Virgin Airlines, in 2016.
Getty

• Richard Branson previously said he was “months” away from
  launching Virgin Galactic’s first rocket into space — on Tuesday
  he said it will happen within “weeks.”
• He told CNBC that his team are “more than tantalizingly
  close” to a launch.
• Branson wants to put himself into space as soon as
  possible too, and says he will be onboard one of his rockets
  within “months.”
• Virgin Galactic is “neck and neck” with Blue Origin, run
  by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, to provide the first commercial
  spaceflight, Branson said in May.

Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson says his team are
only “weeks, not months” away from putting their first rocket in
space — and Galactic are “neck and neck” with Jeff Bezos’ Blue
Origin program for the first commercial spaceflight.

Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday Branson said his project
was “more than tantalizingly close” to launching and
he will be putting people in space not too long after
that.

“So we have got a very, very exciting couple of months
ahead,”he said.

Branson said in May that Virgin Galactic and
Bezos’ Blue Origin were tied in the race for the first
commercial spaceflight. 


Richard
Branson.
Getty

Talking to the BBC at that time, Branson said: “I think we’re
both neck and neck as to who will put people into space first.
We’re talking about months away, not years away — so it’s close.”

At the time Branson added that he hoped to become an astronaut
within a year with Virgin Galactic. But Branson
improved that prediction on Tuesday to “months, not years” until
he will personally be in space.

When asked about consumer demand for space travel, he told
CNBC: “I think the market for people who would love to
become astronauts and go to space is gigantic. And it is up to us
to produce as many spaceships as we can to cater with that
demand.”

Branson is often criticised for over-estimating his
project’s launch dates, and has been delayed many times before,

Business Insider reported.

One ticket on the Virgin Galactic project costs around
$250,000.

Read more about how Elon Musk’s Space X, Blue Origin, and Virgin
Galactic will take people to space in the future.