Richard Branson Pens Letter Ahead of Spaceflight, Teases More Space-Related News It's the final countdown for Virgin Group founder Richard Branson as he prepares to head into space on July 11.
By Emily Rella Edited by Amanda Breen
It's the final countdown for Virgin Group founder Richard Branson as he prepares to head into space on July 11.
Ahead of his journey into the great beyond, the billionaire penned a "special edition" of his highly popular LinkedIn Newsletter where he talked about the origins of his space exploration company, Virgin Galactic.
"I've wanted to go to space ever since I was a young boy and watched the moon landings from our black and white television set," Branson nostalgically shared. "When commercial spaceflights did not look likely for my generation, I registered the name Virgin Galactic with the hope of creating a company that could make it happen."
Related: Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity Completes Human Spaceflight
Branson shared that his spaceflight (the mission has been dubbed UNITY22) on Sunday will be live-streamed at 9 a.m. EST.
"From space, we are able to look with a new perspective both outward and back," he said of his motivation for making space exploration accessible to consumers. "From space it is clear that there is much more that unites than divides us."
Branson will be joined alongside three Virgin Galactic executives (Beth Moses, Colin Bennett and Sirisha Bandla) with his main objective in the mission being to "validate the journey" that other consumers will eventually embark on and make sure that the spaceflight experience is up to Virgin's standards and consumer expectations.
Related: Virgin Galactic Cleared by FAA For Passenger Space Travel
He then teased more space-related news, hinting that the opportunity for ordinary consumers to head into space could be coming sooner than most would think.
"When we return, I'll be announcing something very exciting to give more people the chance to become an astronaut, so make sure you watch this space," Branson wrote.
Sunday's flight will be Virgin Galactic's first-ever fully crewed flight to head into space, following the company's first-ever successful human space flight back in May.
Virgin Galactic's stock valuation was up as much as a whopping 164.43% year over year as of Friday morning.
Related: Richard Branson Insists There's No Competition Between Him and Jeff Bezos
