Ready for lift-off! Sir Richard prepares to be an astronaut
SIR Richard Branson is training to be an astronaut in the commercial space race with Amazon chief Jeff Bezos.
The Brit billionaire, focusing on his space tourism venture Virgin Galactic, will rocket into the stratosphere and beyond within months.
Sir Richard, 67, said: “We’re not talking years – so it’s close. There are exciting times ahead.
“I am going for astronaut training, fitness training, centrifuge and other training so that my body will, hopefully, cope well when I go to space.” Sir Richard, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk and Amazon founder Mr Bezos are leading the charge in commercial space tourism. Mr Musk is “doing fantastically well” in getting cargo into space, admits the Virgin boss. So the real tussle is with him and Mr Bezos, with Sir Richard adding: “We’re neck and neck.”