Virgin Galactic CEO claims of sending people to space by Christmas

Where different firms are planning to send tourists to space after few years, Virgin Galactic seems to already be ready as it plans on sending people to space before Christmas this year.

During an interview with CNN, Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson said that he was ‘pretty confident’ that his space tourism venture will complete its first crewed flight before Christmas this year.

The plan is for test pilots (professional astronauts) to complete the first few ‘dangerous’ flights solo, without any passengers on board. These pilots will operate the firm’s rocket-powered SpaceShip Two (SS2) spacecraft, which won’t really launch from the ground, but instead will hitch a ride up to an elevation of nearly 15km via a jet-powered mothership. Branson said, after reaching that point, the speaceship will detach and accelerate to a top speed of approximately 2,300mph in about eight seconds.

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If everything goes well as per the plan, Branson says he will be the first Virgin Galactic’s passenger. “I’m not allowed up until the [test pilots] have broken it in a few times, first. I would love to have gone on this very [first] flight, but [pilots] are incredibly brave people.”

Until now, the maximum altitude reached by an SS2 is 32.3 miles, but this time their goal is to hit 50 miles. However, this altitude is far away as compared to the International Space Station which is at 254 miles above Earth surface. Yet, this trip would let the tourists experience weightlessness and give them a mesmerizing view of the Earth’s curved horizon, wrote Futurism.

“Space is difficult. Rocket science is rocket science. I obviously would love to prove our critics wrong, and I’m reasonably confident that before Christmas, we will do so,” assured Branson.

If Virgin Galactic meets its goal by Christmas, it will mark Branson ahead of its competitors, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. “Safety’s all that matters if you’re putting people into space. So none of us will race to be the first,” Branson said.

“Elon’s done extraordinary things. We hope to do extraordinary things. Jeff, I’m sure, will do extraordinary things. The demand for space travel, whether it’s satellites, putting people into space, is enormous... So, exciting times ahead.”