It looked like Jeff Bezos was on the verge of winning the billionaire space race by revealing plans to fly to space ahead of rivals Elon Musk and Sir Richard Branson.
But it appears the Virgin Galactic founder might still beat the Amazon CEO to the punch, with a report claiming he plans to make a suborbital flight two weeks before Bezos and his brother.
If true, it would see Branson, 70, fly to space on his VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo rocket plane over the July 4 weekend, while 57-year-old Bezos would have to wait until July 20 for his launch aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft.
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The new space race: Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson (pictured) could beat Jeff Bezos to space by flying on his VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo rocket plane over the July 4 weekend, according to a report, two weeks before the Amazon CEO launches with Blue Origin on July 20
Ready to launch: Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos inspects New Shepard’s West Texas launch facility. One seat on the flight, scheduled for July 20, is being auctioned to the highest bidder
A source told Parabolic Arc that Virgin Galactic began planning Branson’s flight before Monday’s announcement that Jeff and Mark Bezos would launch to the edge of space with the winner of a multi-million pound auction.
However, it’s clear there is an intense rivalry among the three major private players now dominating the space tourism and exploration sector.
Dubbed the ‘NewSpace’ set, Bezos, Branson and Musk all say they were inspired by the first moon landing in 1969, when the US beat Russia in the space race, and there is no doubt how much it would mean to each to win the ‘new space race’.
The trio of entrepreneurs have pumped billions of dollars into their respective start-ups with the aim of creating cheap, commercialised space travel.
But while Musk has talked about ‘dying on Mars’, and Bezos also has ambitions for deep space travel, Branson’s aim is to develop reusable ‘space planes’ to take tourists on short suborbital trips.
Celebrities that have already nabbed the exclusive tickets include singer Katy Perry, actor Tom Hanks and Justin Bieber.
When Bezos announced he would be on the first human flight launched by his space company Blue Origin – planned to coincide with the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing – Branson was quick to congratulate his rival.
He called it ‘extraordinary’ how their two firms were ‘opening up access to space’.
However, he perhaps hinted at his reported July 4 plans when he ended the tweet: ‘Watch this space…’
The flight is contingent upon Virgin Galactic obtaining an operator’s license from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Musk has remained silent about Bezos’ announcement and Branson’s reported flight.
His SpaceX company has already sent astronauts to the International Space Station and is launching the world’s first civilian crew into orbit on September 15, but Musk has long-term plans to establish a human colony on Mars.
The South African-born entrepreneur, 49, has said he would like to go into space but not when it might happen.
Ride: Branson, 70, would fly to space on his VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo rocket plane (pictured)
Clue? After Bezos announced his plan to fly to space with his brother on July 20, Branson congratulated his rival by saying their two firms were ‘opening up access to space’. However, he perhaps hinted at his reported July 4 flight when he ended the tweet: ‘Watch this space…’
There has been no love lost between Musk and Bezos, who have gone head-to-head on several projects for more than a decade.
Musk has branded his tech titan foe a ‘copycat’ over some of Amazon’s business ventures, while Bezos mocked the SpaceX CEO’s plan to send humans to Mars.
The pair have also sparred publicly over their competing satellite plans. In January Musk took aim at Bezos on Twitter by accusing the Amazon founder’s Project Kuiper of trying to ‘hamstring’ his Starlink venture.
Musk also joked on social media that Bezos ‘can’t get it up (to orbit)’, after Blue Origin filed a protest against NASA for giving SpaceX a $2.89billion contract to build a lunar lander.
Virgin Galactic, meanwhile, is aiming for commercial operations aboard its VSS Unity spacecraft to begin next year, following testing and several months of downtime for maintenance and other upgrades.
That testing will include a flight that will take Branson to the edge of space, scheduled to happen at some point this summer.
Virgin is expected to charge more than $250,000 for new reservations but has not announced final pricing. Sales will reopen following Branson’s flight.
Bezos’ spacecraft: Blue Origin, founded in 2000, touts itself as a means to provide cheaper access to space through the use of reusable rockets – specifically the New Shepard (pictured)
In May, the Unity vehicle blasted to a height of 55 miles (89km) then glided back to Earth with pilots Dave Mackay and CJ Sturckow at the controls.
It had been thought the next test flight would see the pilots joined by four as yet unnamed Virgin Galactic employees, with Branson making the third flight ahead of the plane entering commercial service.
But it appears there is a chance Branson might be bumped up to the second flight.
Virgin Galactic has refused to be drawn on the report.
A spokesperson for the company said: ‘We are in the process of analyzing the data from our successful May 22nd flight.
‘As previously announced, we expect to complete the final test flights this summer through to early fall.
‘At this time, we have not determined the date of our next flight.
‘An objective from the last flight was to collect data to be used for the final two verification reports that are required as part of the current FAA commercial reusable spacecraft operator’s license.’
Bezos, who founded Blue Origin in 2000, will blast into space on the first crewed flight of his New Shepard rocket ship and will spend at least 10 minutes floating in zero gravity inside the capsule during the suborbital sightseeing trip.
Blue Origin named the New Shepard program after astronaut Alan Shepard, who was the first American to fly into space 60 years ago.
The flight will mark a huge milestone in the mission to send paying customers to the edge of space.
Dream: Elon Musk (pictured) has said he would like to go to space but not when it will happen
‘Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space,’ Bezos posted to his Instagram account on Monday.
‘On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.’
His launch into space is the culmination of more than two decades of work for Bezos, who has already announced plans to step down as CEO of Amazon just 15 days before the flight date.
Instead he will become executive chairman of the company he started in his garage in 1994 – giving him ‘time and energy’ to focus on other ventures.
There are five days to go before the auction for the third seat closes on June 12, with bidding having so far reached $2.8 million.