The space industry was born out of competition in the 1950s, and it very much continues to thrive on it today. Back then, it was the United States versus the Soviet Union, but today, we’re looking at the battle of the billionaires. Right now, it’s Amazon founder Jeff Bezos versus Virgin mogul Sir Richard Branson, each of whom is trying to beat the other to space.
A few weeks ago, Bezos announced he’d be flying to space via his spaceflight company Blue Origin on July 20, the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. But Sir Richard Branson, owner of Blue Origin competitor Virgin Galactic, was not to be outdone by Bezos. On Thursday, Branson announced he’ll be flying even sooner, on July 11, with a crew of employees.
Quite frankly, this one-upping is more about the billionaires’ egos than anything else. Both companies have already had several successful test flights and are well on their way to flying customers.
Video: Watch Virgin Orbit Launch A Rocket From An Airplane (Newsweek)
Everything We Know About Bill Cosby’s Release After Conviction Overturned
Newsweek
Allison Mack Sentenced To 3 Years For Role In NXIVM: What You Need To Know
Newsweek
Watch: Matt Gaetz Calls For Investigation Into Tucker Carlson NSA Spying Allegations
Newsweek
Watch: Powerful Flash Floods Rip Through Zion National Park
Newsweek
Watch Virgin Orbit Launch A Rocket From An Airplane
Newsweek
Army Chief Of Staff Says ‘Winning With China Is Not Fighting China’
Newsweek
Biden Agrees Infrastructure Bill Has Been ‘Rocky Road’ While Stopping For Ice Cream
Newsweek
Floodwater Rushes Past Cars at Utah's Zion National Park
Newsweek
What Is A UFO And What Did The New Pentagon Report Have To Say About Them?
Newsweek
K-Pop Band BTS By The Numbers
Newsweek
Psaki Spars With Fox News Reporter Doocy Over Whether Republicans ‘Defunded The Police’
Newsweek
Shocking Video Shows Correctional Officer Beating Inmate Inside Georgia Prison
Newsweek
Wildfires Break Out In California With Evacuations Issued In Some Regions
Newsweek
Joe Biden Defends His Power To Authorize Airstrikes
Newsweek
Biden Supports An Investigation Into Miami Building Collapse
Newsweek
What To Expect For The 2021 U.S. Hurricane Season
Newsweek
Everything We Know About Bill Cosby’s Release After Conviction Overturned
Actor and comedian Bill Cosby, 83, has been released from prison after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out Cosby’s conviction after the discovery of an agreement with a previous prosecutor that Cosby could not be charged. Cosby was serving over two years of his 3-10 sentence at Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution at Phoenix following his conviction for sexual assault in 2018.
Newsweek
Allison Mack Sentenced To 3 Years For Role In NXIVM: What You Need To Know
“Smallville” actress Allison Mack has been sentenced to three years in prison on charges of manipulating women into becoming sex slaves for NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere, who was convicted of sex trafficking and sentenced to 120 years in 2019. Here is everything you need to know about Mack’s sentencing.
Newsweek
Watch: Matt Gaetz Calls For Investigation Into Tucker Carlson NSA Spying Allegations
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz rips into the National Security Agency's statement on their alleged monitoring of Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson in an attempt to take his show off the air, according to Carlson's accusations. "A statement that is so couched, it is functionally an admission," Gaetz said, who also called for an investigation into the matter.
Newsweek
That said, Virgin Galactic is slightly ahead of Blue Origin in the testing race, having flown several people to space already (all employees, not customers), as its SpaceShipTwo spaceplane is piloted. Blue Origin, whose New Shepard vehicle is autonomous, has not yet flown a human — Bezos will be one of the first on July 20, alongside his brother, an as-of-yet-unnamed winner of an auction who paid $28 million for the seat, and aviation legend Wally Funk, who, at 82 years old, will become the oldest person ever to fly to space. But Blue Origin has had far more successful flights to space thus far: 15 compared to Virgin Galactic’s three. (Not to mention Virgin Galactic’s fatal test flight in 2014.)
Blue Origin also has altitude on its side. New Shepard will cross the Kármán line, or the internationally recognized boundary of space, at 100 km above Earth (about 62 miles), while Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo will not reach that marker, though it will cross the United States’ space threshold of 50 miles. (Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith reportedly made a jab about this little fact following Branson’s announcement.)
Then, as far as actually starting up space tourism operations goes, Virgin Galactic is one small step closer, having received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last week to fly paying passengers. But if all goes according to plan, both companies could be flying space tourists as early as next year.
Now, we’ve made no mention of the third space-obsessed billionaire in the game: Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX. But Musk currently has no official plans to fly himself to space, despite his company being the most advanced private spaceflight operator in the world. (SpaceX launched 10 astronauts to the ISS in the past year, and it’s already developing a new rocket to take humans to Mars — Musk has kind of won the whole private spaceflight game already.) But we’re sure he’ll throw a few jabs on Twitter about his competitors sometime soon. What’s a race without a little heckling?
Stefanie Waldek is a freelance space, travel, and design journalist who would be happy to fly on either of the upcoming flights if the billionaires want to back out. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @stefaniewaldek.
Source: Read Full Article