Richard Branson set to pip Jeff Bezos in mogul space race

Virgin’s Richard Branson appears poised to beat fellow billionaire and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos into orbit by just nine days.

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos is set to blast off into space on July 20, nine days after fellow billionaire Richard Branson. Picture: Blue Origin/AFP

British entrepreneur Richard Branson looks set to beat fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos into space by just nine days.

The high-profile Virgin boss has announced he will be on board Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Unity when it blasts off on July 11, weather permitting.

Amazon and Blue Origin founder Bezos is expected to travel to space on July 20 aboard his own launch vehicle New Shepard, which has successfully carried out more than a dozen uncrewed test runs.

In a statement posted on the Virgin Group’s website, Branson said he would be joined by pilots and several technical specialists, along with the company’s vice president of government affairs and research operations.

Bezos will travel with his brother Mark, pioneering woman aviator Wally Funk and a passenger who paid $37.4 million at auction for a seat on the flight.

Funk was the first woman trained to fly into space in the early 1960s, but was excluded because of her gender.

The 82-year-old has also bought a ticket to fly with Virgin Galactic but will not be included in the July 11 flight.

Jeff Bezos with Wally Funk, just after he told her she’d be flying with him on Blue Origin's first crewed space flight. Picture: AFP

Virgin’s VSS Unity won Federal Aviation Administration approval for a full commercial launch licence after a successful flight in May, clearing the way for passenger space trips.

“Virgin Galactic still has tests to come and this is the time for me to assess the astronaut experience,” said Branson, who has promised to livestream the flight.

“I truly believe that space belongs to all of us. After 17 years of research, engineering and innovation, Virgin Galactic stands at the vanguard of a new commercial space industry poised to open the universe to humankind and change the world for good.”

Sir Richard Branson at Virgin launch control.

The two space flights highlight the competition in the field of private space exploration, with Elon Musk’s SpaceX also jostling for pole position.

Branson has been touting the first commercial space flights almost every year since Virgin Galactic was established in 2004, and has sold a considerable number of tickets including to celebrities Brad Pitt, Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio.

The space program has suffered its fair share of tragedy however, with the loss of three lives during a rocket engine test in 2007, followed by the death of pilot Michael Alsbury in 2014 when a prototype space plane broke up during a test flight.

It was determined pilot error caused the crash, but additional safety features were added to VSS Unity, which has performed flawlessly in test missions.

Branson said the space flight would be the culmination of a lifelong dream, encouraged by his mother who “taught me to never give up and reach for the stars”.

“On July 11, it’s time to turn that dream into a reality aboard the next Virgin Galactic spaceflight, in the company of this brilliant crew of mission specialists,” he said.