Billionaires fight to reach space first

The story: Two billionaires are competing to ride their own rockets into space, and be the first to do so! The lucrative chase for space tourists will

Billionaires fight to reach space first

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• The story: Two billionaires are competing to ride their own rockets into space, and be the first to do so! The lucrative chase for space tourists will unfold on the fringes of space — 88 kilometers to 106 kilometers up - pitting Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson against the world’s richest man, Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos.
• The two plans: Branson's take off is from New Mexico, launching with two pilots and three other employees aboard a rocket plane carried aloft by a double-fuselage aircraft. Bezos departs nine days later from West Texas, blasting off in a fully automated capsule with three guests: his brother, an 82-year-old female aviation pioneer who’s waited six decades, the winner of a $28 million charity auction. Branson’s flight will be longer, but Bezos’ will be higher. Branson’s piloted plane has already flown to space three times, and Bezos’ has five times as many test flights, though none with people on board.
• Karman Line: Bezos hasn’t commented publicly on Branson’s upcoming flight. Some at Blue Origin are pointing out the fact that their capsule surpasses the designated Karman line of space 100 kilometers up, while Virgin Galactic’s peak altitude is 88 kilometers. International aeronautic and astronautic federations in Europe recognize the Karman line as the official boundary between the upper atmosphere and space, while NASA, the Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration and some astrophysicists accept a minimum altitude of 80 kilometers.

1. Blue Origin’s flights last 10 minutes by the time the capsule parachutes onto the desert floor. Virgin Galactic’s last around 14 to 17 minutes from the time the space plane drops from the mothership and fires its rocket motor for a steep climb until it glides to a runway landing.
2. SpaceX’s Elon Musk doesn’t do quick up-and-down hops to the edge of space. His capsules go all the way to orbit, and he’s shooting for Mars. “There is a big difference between reaching space and reaching orbit,” Musk has said. He already has carried 10 astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA, and his company’s first private spaceflight is coming up in September 2021 for another billionaire who’s purchased a three-day, globe-circling ride.

• Space tourism commences: More than 600 have reserved seats with Virgin Galactic at $250,000. Blue Origin expects to announce prices and open ticket sales once Bezos flies. A space renaissance is about to begin, as the space station gets set to welcome a string of paying visitors, beginning with a Russian actress and movie producer in October 2021, a pair of Japanese in December and a SpaceX-delivered crew of businessmen in January 2022.
• Summary: Coming decades will see the flowering of the space tourism business.

 

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