Today in relatable news, Richard Branson made a surprise announcement that he plans to go to space later this month—nine days before his fellow billionaire, Jeff Bezos.
The British billionaire, whose company Virgin has been developing a rocket-powered plane for decades, announced on Thursday that he will personally attempt to fly to space in it on July 11. That’s a full nine days before Amazon CEO Bezos attempts his own voyage.
This is a pivot from Branson, who in the past has claimed that he has no interest in a personal space race. “People have turned it into a race,” he told CNN recently. “It would be very dangerous to say turn it into a race. And the moment we have every boxed ticked, I will go up and then we will invite some of the people who have signed up to go with us—but we honestly don’t see it as a race.”
Virgin Galactic originally planned to start operating passenger flights to space years ago, but the development of its craft stalled after several hurdles, including a disastrous 2014 test flight that ended in a fatal crash.
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But Branson clearly has faith in the latest craft. Announcing the news on Twitter, he wrote: “I’ve always been a dreamer. My mum taught me to never give up and to reach for the stars. On July 11, it’s time to turn that dream into a reality aboard the next Virgin Galactic spaceflight.
The July 11 date of Branson’s journey means that he’s in line to become the first billionaire to go to space in a self-funded spacecraft. Bezos, meanwhile, will go to space on July 20, on a rocket ship made by his company Blue Origin.
Billionaires—they’re just like us.
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