Daily US Times: Billionaire entreprenure Sir Richard Branson has named the date he will fly to the edge of space. It will be 11 July, or very soon after.
Mr Branson will be a passenger in the back of the Unity rocket plane his Virgin Galactic company has been developing in the United States for the better part of two decades.
The vehicle can climb to an altitude of 295,000ft (90km), giving those onboard a few minutes of weightlessness and a view of the curvature of the Earth.
the British entrepreneur’s intention is to introduce a commercial spaceflight service.
Some 600 people have already lodged deposits to take the ride.
Witnessing Sir Richard Branson does it means those customers are now getting extremely close to having to hand over the full ticket price, which in some cases will be $250,000.
Sir Richard Branson said: “I truly believe that space belongs to all of us. After 17 years of research, engineering and innovation, the new commercial space industry is poised to open the Universe to humankind and change the world for good.
Absolutely key to Mr Branson’s company moving forward with its business was the granting last week of a commercial spaceflight licence by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Sunday 11 July is the opening of what’s termed a flight “window”. The flight could be delayed because of unfavourable weather conditions or perhaps a technical issue.
If the mission does indeed go ahead on that Sunday, that would mean Sir Richard stealing a march on his rival in sub-orbital space tourism, fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos.
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