The Virgin Records founder is joined by three other passengers and two pilots when he successfully completes the first Unity22 space mission to carry civilians.
- Jul 12, 2021
AceShowbiz - Sir Richard Branson launched into space on his Virgin Galactic passenger rocket plane on Sunday, July 11, beating fellow billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
The Virgin Records founder, three other passengers and two pilots successfully completed the first Unity22 space mission to carry civilians.
Before climbing aboard, Branson signed the astronaut logbook and joked, "The name's Branson. Sir Richard Branson. Astronaut 001. Licensed to thrill."
"It was the complete experience of a lifetime," said the happy entrepreneur during the 15-minute flight. "Now looking down at the spaceport, congratulations to everybody."
The flight lifted off just after 8.30 A.M. local time from Spaceport America in New Mexico.
The VSS Eve plane, named after Branson's mum, hit an altitude of more than 50 miles about an hour after take-off, and the crew was then able to remove their straps and experience a few minutes of weightlessness, according to the New York Post.
Branson and crew returned to earth at 9.40 A.M. The British billionaire originally planned his space jaunt for later his summer, but bumped up his plans after Amazon head Jeff Bezos announced he would be taking his own rocket into space on July 20.
"Great to start the morning with a friend. Feeling good, feeling excited, feeling ready," Branson tweeted three hours before take-off, alongside a photo of himself with SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who is planning his own space flight.
After Branson's successful launch into space, Bezos turned to Instagram to congratulate his rival. "@richardbranson and crew, congratulations on the flight," the 57-year-old business magnate wrote in his post. "Can't wait to join the club!"
The Virgin boss was joined by fellow astronauts Sirisha Bandla, Colin Bennett, and Beth Moses onboard Unity22 for the history-making space flight.
