Elon Musk Joins the Space Tourism Frontier Aboard Virgin Galactic

Despite being the visionary behind SpaceX, Elon Musk has yet to experience spaceflight aboard his own spacecraft.

On July 11, Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity spacecraft launched from the America Spaceport in New Mexico, carrying billionaire Richard Branson, two pilots, and three crew members into suborbital space. This mission marked the company's inaugural tourist flight and is just the beginning of many more to come. Over 600 passengers have already purchased tickets for future voyages, including Elon Musk himself.

In a pre-flight interview with the London-based Sunday Times, Branson confirmed Musk's participation, stating, "Elon is a friend, and perhaps one day I will fly on one of his ships."

Elon Musk paid a deposit of $10,000, while the full ticket price for a VSS Unity flight is $250,000. This grants approximately four minutes of weightlessness at altitudes exceeding 80 kilometers.

In the United States, 80 kilometers is recognized as the boundary of space, which means all VSS Unity crew members earn astronaut status. However, internationally, space begins at 100 kilometers. This distinction led Jeff Bezos to challenge Virgin Galactic's spaceflight claims. Bezos’s own spacecraft, New Shepard, is scheduled to reach about 105 kilometers on July 20.

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