Sir Richard Branson becomes the first billionaire to almost reach space
New space planes are helping reduce the cost of accessing space and opening the door to space tourism.
Key takeaways
- The flight marks a major milestone in Virgin Galactic's 15-year struggle to establish a regular service to carry paying passengers and payloads into space.
- Get a birds eye view Though this was billed as a flight into space though Unity did not quite make it.
- Flying under rocket power at Mach 3 (1,934 knots, 2,225 mph, 3,581 km/h), the craft only reached an altitude of 53.5 miles (86.1 km), while the generally recognized beginning of space is 62 miles (100 km).
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2021) 'Sir Richard Branson becomes the first billionaire to almost reach space', 311 Institute, 12 July. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/sir-richard-branson-becomes-the-first-billionaire-to-almost-reach-space/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
After years of preparation, three years late, and in a first for a new era of space tourism British billionaire Sir Richard Branson became the first billionaire to almost, but not quite, fly into space as a passenger aboard the privately built and operated Virgin Galactic spaceplane, VSS Unity, which took off from Spaceport America, New Mexico at about 10:30 am EDT.
The flight marks a major milestone in Virgin Galactic's 15-year struggle to establish a regular service to carry paying passengers and payloads into space. With pilots Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci at the controls of VSS Unity, the rest of the complement consisted of Sir Richard, and mission specialists Beth Moses, Chief Astronaut Instructor; Colin Bennett, Lead Operations Engineer; and Sirisha Bandla, Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations.
Get a birds eye view
Though this was billed as a flight into space though Unity did not quite make it. Flying under rocket power at Mach 3 (1,934 knots, 2,225 mph, 3,581 km/h), the craft only reached an altitude of 53.5 miles (86.1 km), while the generally recognized beginning of space is 62 miles (100 km). This marked the 22nd flight of Unity and the fourth rocket-powered spaceflight.
During the flight, the passengers and crew saw the curvature of the Earth and experienced a period of weightlessness before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere and returning to base as an unpowered glider.
"I have dreamt about this moment since I was a child, but nothing could have prepared me for the view of Earth from space," says Sir Richard. "We are at the vanguard of a new space age. As Virgin’s founder, I was honoured to test the incredible customer experience as part of this remarkable crew of mission specialists and now astronauts. I can’t wait to share this experience with aspiring astronauts around the world.
"Our mission is to make space more accessible to all. In that spirit, and with today’s successful flight of VSS Unity, I’m thrilled to announce a partnership with Omaze and Space for Humanity to inspire the next generation of dreamers. For so long, we have looked back in wonder at the space pioneers of yesterday. Now, I want the astronauts of tomorrow to look forward and make their own dreams come true."
Source: Virgin Galactic
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Why does this matter?
New space planes are helping reduce the cost of accessing space and opening the door to space tourism.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
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Sources and further reading
- Virgin galactic 2021 omaze.com
- Space for Humanity spaceforhumanity.org
- Virgin galactic successfully completes first fully crewed spaceflight virgingalactic.com
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 12 July 2021. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2021). Sir Richard Branson becomes the first billionaire to almost reach space. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/sir-richard-branson-becomes-the-first-billionaire-to-almost-reach-space/
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