Swashbuckling billionaire Richard Branson hurtled into space aboard his own winged rocket ship Sunday, bringing astro-tourism a step closer to reality and beating out his exceedingly richer rival Jeff Bezos.
The nearly 71-year-old Branson and five crewmates from his Virgin Galactic space-tourism company reached an altitude of 86 kilometres over the New Mexico desert enough to experience three to four minutes of weightlessness and witness the curvature of the Earth and then glided back home to a runway landing. The whole thing, it was just magical, a jubilant Branson said on his return aboard the gleaming white space plane, named Unity.
By Alfred Chua2021-07-12T02:01:00+01:00
The fledgling urban air mobility (UAM) sector has been boosted in recent months, with a slew of major orders for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
Embraer’s UAM unit Eve clinched two significant orders within a week for its eVTOL aircraft – first from Halo, a helicopter and UAM travel provider in the US and UK, for 200 examples, then a 50-aircraft order from Brazil-based helicopter operator Helisul.
Source: Embraer
A rendering of Eve, the first urban air mobility project from EmbraerX
But the order that thrust UAM into the mainstream came a few days later on 11 June, when American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways and aircraft lessor Avolon agreed to purchase up to 1,000 of Vertical Aerospace’s in-development VA-X4 air taxis.
HEADLINES & GLOBAL NEWS
By
Jul 11, 2021 10:24 PM EDT
Richard Branson, the thrill-seeking billionaire, has entered space on his own winged rocket ship, bringing Astro-tourism one step closer to reality.
(Photo : PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson(L), with Sirisha Bandla on his shoulders, cheers with crew members after flying into space aboard a Virgin Galactic vessel, a voyage he described as the experience of a lifetime and one he hopes will usher in an era of lucrative space tourism at Spaceport America
Richard Branson Has Finally Reached Space
In a recently published article in Associated Press, Branson, who is almost 71 years old, and five Virgin Galactic crew members flew across the New Mexico desert at a height of 53.5 miles or 86 kilometers.
Richard Branson reaches space in his own ship
July 12, 2021
NEW MEXICO: Swashbuckling billionaire Richard Branson hurtled into space aboard his own winged rocket ship Sunday, bringing astro-tourism a step closer to reality and beating out his exceedingly richer rival Jeff Bezos.
The nearly 71-year-old Branson and five crewmates from his Virgin Galactic space-tourism company reached an altitude of 53.5 miles (86 kilometers) over the New Mexico desert enough to experience three to four minutes of weightlessness and witness the curvature of the Earth and then glided back home to a runway landing.
“The whole thing, it was just magical,” a jubilant Branson said on his return aboard the gleaming white space plane, named Unity.
Susan Montoya Bryan And Marcia Dunn
This photo provided by Virgin Galactic, shows the VSS Unity s tail cone view from space on Sunday, July 11, 2021. Entrepreneur Richard Branson and five crewmates from his Virgin Galactic space-tourism company reached an altitude of about 53 miles (88 kilometers) over the New Mexico desert, enough to experience three to four minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of the Earth.
Image Credit: Virgin Galactic via AP July 11, 2021 - 9:00 PM TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. (AP) Swashbuckling billionaire Richard Branson hurtled into space aboard his own winged rocket ship Sunday, bringing astro-tourism a step closer to reality and beating out his exceedingly richer rival Jeff Bezos.