National Aeronautics and Space Administration chief Bill Nelson on Monday called billionaire Richard Branson’s historic flight with Virgin Galactic a “great” milestone for space exploration.
Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, jetted into orbit on Sunday alongside two company employees and a pair of pilots as part of his company’s first full-crewed spaceflight, the Unity 22 Mission. The winged mothership, called the VMS Eve, took off from the Spaceport America runway in New Mexico and climbed nearly 300,000 feet above Earth at speeds slightly over Mach 3.
“We put up Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom into suborbit 60 years ago, and now we’ve come to this, and I think it’s great,” Nelson, a former Democratic senator in Florida and astronaut who went to space in the 1980s, told CNBC.
RICHARD BRANSON OF VIRGIN GALACTIC BECOMES FIRST BILLIONAIRE IN SPACE
“And I think what these billionaires are doing is great,” he added. “And I think what Elon Musk has done, going to orbit with astronaut crews, I think that is great.”
Branson’s excursion lasted roughly 90 minutes before he touched down at the same runway.
I was once a child with a dream looking up to the stars. Now I’m an adult in a spaceship looking down to our beautiful Earth. To the next generation of dreamers: if we can do this, just imagine what you can do https://t.co/Wyzj0nOBgX #Unity22 @virgingalactic pic.twitter.com/03EJmKiH8V
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) July 11, 2021
“Welcome to the dawn of a new space age,” Branson wrote in a tweet following his return from the spaceflight, noting his trip “was more magical than I ever imagined.”
“I think, like most kids, I have dreamt of this moment since I was a kid, and honestly, nothing can prepare you for the view of Earth from space,” he said following his return.
In Sunday’s launch, Branson beat out fellow billionaire and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is expected to make a space expedition on July 20 via his private company Blue Origin. Nelson, however, insisted the real competition is not between moguls but rather between the United States and China.
“The real space race, which used to be with the Soviet Union years ago, I think that space race is going to be more and more with China, as the Chinese government becomes increasingly aggressive in their space program and, I might say, very successful.”
Branson, who has a net worth of $5.5 billion, has also stated his flight to Earth’s orbit was not a competition.
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“I know nobody will believe me when I say it, but honestly, there isn’t [competition],” Branson said on NBC’s Today show Tuesday.
So far, an estimated 750 have opted to sign up for future flights with Virgin Galactic, and some applicants have paid up to $250,000 per ticket for the opportunity to experience space travel.
