Billionaire Branson soars to space aboard Virgin Galactic flight


Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic crew members enter the company's passenger rocket plane, the VSS Unity, in a still image from undated handout video taken at Spaceport America near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, U.S. Virgin Galactic/Handout via REUTERS.

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. (Reuters) -British billionaire Richard Branson on Sunday soared more than 50 miles above the New Mexico desert aboard his Virgin Galactic rocket plane and safely returned in the vehicle's first fully crewed test flight to space, a symbolic milestone for a venture he started 17 years ago.

Branson, one of six Virgin Galactic Holding Inc employees strapped in for the ride, touted the mission as a precursor to a new era of space tourism, with the company he founded in 2004 poised to begin commercial operations next year.

Subscribe now and receive FREE sooka plan for 1 month.
T&C applies.

Monthly Plan

RM13.90/month

Annual Plan

RM12.33/month

Billed as RM148.00/year

1 month

Free Trial

For new subscribers only


Cancel anytime. No ads. Auto-renewal. Unlimited access to the web and app. Personalised features. Members rewards.
Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

   

Next In Tech News

Kremlin says Putin is looking into issue of slow YouTube speeds in Russia
Singapore clears South Korean Hanwha's buyout of Dyna-Mac
Samsung Electronics plans $7.2 billion buyback to boost shareholder value
Man who stole and laundered roughly US$1bil in bitcoin is sentenced to 5 years in prison
Stiff business: Berlin startup will freeze your corpse for monthly fee
White supremacist, Nazi content spread on Steam game service
After Trump’s victory, US election falsehoods shift left
Review fatigue? Consumers are less likely to share feedback after a purchase
AI weather models have shown promise this hurricane season
AI could help scale humanitarian responses. But it could also have big downsides

Others Also Read