Virgin Galactic's launching Richard Branson to space: Why you should care CNET 5 hrs ago SpaceShipTwo Unity Released From VMS Eve for Second Glide Flight in New Mexico In less than 24 hours, if all goes according to plan, Virgin Galactic's SpaceshipTwo Unity and the carrier aircraft VMS Eve will take off from a lonely runway in one of the most desolate stretches of desert in North America. A full crew will be aboard the suborbital spaceplane for the first time, including two pilots, three employees and Richard Branson, the company's 70-year-old billionaire founder. One crew member, Virgin's chief astronaut instructor, Beth Moses, will be making the trip for the second time. But the star of the show will be Branson, who has invested over 16 years and more than $1 billion to finally make the short trip to the edge of space, experience weightlessness and gaze upon Earth as only a privileged few hundred other humans have.