1:45
- ABC News
- July 10, 2021
What to know about Richard Branson's spaceflight
Branson is set to beat the world's richest man, Jeff Bezos, into space.
1:45
R&B singer Khalid tweeted Friday that he will be at the launch, and debuting a new song.
The VSS Unity spacecraft launches from a custom-built \"mothership\" aircraft, the VMS Eve, that takes off from a conventional runway. At an altitude of approximately 50,000 feet, the spaceship will be released from the aircraft and enter its glide to the edges of space where those aboard can experience just a few minutes of microgravity, as well as novel views of earth and space. Previous test flights for the spaceship reached an altitude of 55.5 miles.
Something spectacular is coming to the skies in ONE WEEK. Join us LIVE for #Unity22 - Virgin Galactic’s first fully-crewed test flight, including @RichardBranson and 3 mission specialists.
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) July 4, 2021
Tune-in July 11 at 6 am PT | 9 am ET | 2 pm BST at https://t.co/5UalYT7Hjb pic.twitter.com/c8LmNcgLcY
As gravity pulls the spaceship back toward Earth's upper atmosphere, the astronauts will buckle back into their seats for reentry. Eventually, the spaceship will glide back to Spaceport America for a runway landing. Branson has said in previous interviews that the flight will take about 1 1/2 hours total.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Business/virgin-galactic-02-ht-jc-210709_1625844597072_hpEmbed_16x9_384.jpg\")
Virgin Galactic has taken heat from critics, including the twitter account of Bezos' firm Blue Origin, for stretching the definition of \"space\" as its flights do not go above the Karman line (62 miles above earth) that is defined by many -- but not all -- as the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space.
From the beginning, New Shepard was designed to fly above the Kármán line so none of our astronauts have an asterisk next to their name. For 96% of the world’s population, space begins 100 km up at the internationally recognized Kármán line. pic.twitter.com/QRoufBIrUJ
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 9, 2021
Neither Blue Origin nor Virgin Galactic's flights will reach Earth's orbit, however, the way Elon Musk's SpaceX missions have. Musk on Twitter has called out this \"big difference.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Business/virgin-galactic-04-ht-jc-210709_1625844597079_hpEmbed_16x9_384.jpg\")
The modern commercial space race has been undeniably dominated by the ultra-rich. Blue Origin founder Bezos is the richest man in the world, according to Forbes data, and SpaceX CEO Musk is the third-richest. Branson's net worth, meanwhile, is some $6 billion.
While this has led some to see space as a new frontier for billionaire daredevils, others have argued that the rise of private sector involvement in space travel has accelerated technological advancements, saved NASA money and carries the long-term potential to open up space tourism to all who have been curious about the cosmos.
\"I truly believe that space belongs to all of us,\" Branson said in a statement earlier this month announcing his spaceflight. \"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.\"
For what it's worth, on Saturday, Bezos wished Branson and his crew a \"successful and safe flight tomorrow\" on Instagram.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Business/virgin-galactic-01-ht-jc-210709_1625844597064_hpEmbed_19x10_384.jpg\")
Virgin Galactic has stated its mission is \"democratizing space\" and increasing accessibility. Its initial price of tickets, however, cost $250,000. Bezos, meanwhile, auctioned a seat on his upcoming Blue Origin flight for a whopping $28 million.
As the pandemic spotlighted the nation's wealth inequality and deepened the divide between the haves and have-nots, not everyone is rooting for the billionaires the way Americans got behind astronauts in the Apollo era. A Change.org petition calling for Bezos to stay in space has garnered headlines and more than 150,000 signatures.
Animosity was exacerbated by recent reports on how Bezos and Musk have avoided paying income taxes.
Earlier this year, progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., responded to one of Musk's tweets about a \"multiplanetary\" future, calling for him to \"focus on Earth.\"
\"Space travel is an exciting idea, but right now we need to focus on Earth and create a progressive tax system so that children don't go hungry, people are not homeless and all Americans have healthcare,\" Sanders wrote. \"The level of inequality in America is obscene and a threat to our democracy.\"
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