Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BRANSON: WE’LL FLY TO SPACE IN WEEKS
SIR Richard Branson says his Virgin Galactic craft will make its first trip to space within weeks.
The billionaire is in a race with Tesla tycoon Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to send the first paying passengers into orbit.
Yet his plans have been hampered by delays and a fatal crash in 2014.
Sir Richard insisted yesterday that the mission was now well advanced.
He said: “We should be in space within weeks, not months. And then we will be in space with myself in months and not years.
“We will be in space with people not too long after that, so we have got a very, very exciting couple of months ahead.
“I think the market for people who would love to become astronauts and go to space is gigantic. And it is up to us to produce as many spaceships as we can to cater with that demand.”
His pledge comes shortly after Mr Musk’s rival Spacex unveiled the first private passenger who will fly around the moon. That mission is earmarked for 2023.
Meanwhile, Mr Bezos, the world’s richest man, says his space travel firm Blue Origin will launch a manned mission into space in 2019.
Sir Richard also gave his verdict on President Donald Trump’s views on climate change during a television interview.
He said: “I think he’s just got to start believing in science. When you’ve a thousand scientists being so clear cut you can’t ignore them.”