Low Earth orbit will become a tourist destination. The space travel of the founder of Virgin Galactic is called "the complete experience of a lifetime"

On July/July/2002 1 1, richard branson, the British billionaire and founder of Virgin Galactic, took off from a launch site in the mountains of New Mexico, USA, and successfully flew out of the earth's atmosphere and reached the space boundary. Although this type of spacecraft has gone to space three times before, it is the first launch similar to Virgin Galactic's all-commercial flight promised to the public, and it is also a historic manned space test flight, which has laid a milestone for human commercial travel in the future.

Spacecraft 2 was first carried by the mother ship to a height of about 1.3 million meters, and then climbed to a height of about 88,000 meters independently of the mother ship. Virgin Galactic plans to launch a private space travel service in 2022, with a fare of $250,000 per person. At present, about 600 people have paid the deposit.

As the founder of the first private space company to reach space in person, Branson said that this space flight was "a complete experience in a lifetime" and "now I am overlooking a beautiful space port".

Spacecraft 2 flew for 4 minutes in a suborbital microgravity environment 88 kilometers from the earth's surface. The test flight initially estimated that it would take about 90 minutes from takeoff to landing.

After more than an hour's lift-off, flight and return mission, the spacecraft successfully landed on the runway in New Mexico, bringing a perfect end to Virgin Galactic's fourth space flight.

After returning to Earth, Branson took to the podium to celebrate. "The whole thing is amazing." He said.

At the subsequent press conference, Branson was still very excited. He said, "I don't know what I will say, because I feel I am still in space."

Branson is one of the six people in this space flight, including two pilots and three experts. Before the launch, Branson said that the flight would open a new era of commercial space travel.

However, the cost of commercial space flight is by no means affordable to ordinary people. It is estimated that each space flight ticket is about $250,000. Despite this, there are still many people who want to fly in space, and hundreds of rich people have booked tickets for the flight.

According to UBS, the space travel market may reach $3 billion in 2030.

The experiment of space flight was not smooth sailing. In 20 14, a Virgin Galactic prototype crashed in the Mojave Desert in California during the test flight, causing one pilot to die and another pilot to be seriously injured.

Branson personally participated in the test flight of 1 1, which is considered to dispel public concerns about the safety of space travel. If this flight goes well, commercial flight will start next year.

Space flight is regarded as the most advanced air flight, which makes people with space dreams, especially billionaires, flock to it. Branson's flight has strengthened the hope of space enthusiasts-soon, not only professional astronauts of NASA and other space agencies, but also ordinary people may enjoy regular space travel.

It is believed that Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, another billionaire who owns his own aerospace company, plans to make a similar trip to space in nine days. Bezos will take off on the 20th of this month on the "New Shepard" rocket developed by his company "Blue Origin" for suborbital space flight. Another billionaire, elon musk, the founder of Tesla, plans to go into space on the Dragon spacecraft of space exploration technology company in September this year. Previously, the rocket system of Space Exploration Technology Company has carried out cargo and manned flights of the International Space Station for NASA many times.

It can be said that Branson went into space in his own spaceship, and all this was the goal of billionaire entrepreneurs to realize their childhood wishes and promote human space flight to become ordinary at the risk of injury or death.

"They will really take action, and they will do it." "Seriously, it's admirable," said Eric Anderson, chairman of Space Exploration Co., Ltd., which is responsible for launching rockets into orbit.

At 8: 40 am on July 1 1, the flight of Spacecraft 2 seems to be a celebration party between Virgin Galactic and the emerging space tourism industry. Guests include Musk, founder of Space Exploration Technologies, Michelle grisham, governor of New Mexico, and about 60 customers who pay for future flights of Virgin Galactic.

As the spacecraft flew into space, stephen colbert, the host of the CBS program "Late Show", introduced the contents of the live broadcast through the Internet. After landing, R&; B singer k Khalid sang a new song.

After running out of fuel, Spacecraft 2 continued to glide to an altitude of 88 kilometers. Four passengers in the back row unfastened their seat belts and experienced weightlessness for about four minutes before returning to their seats.

Branson's entourage includes Beth Moses, chief astronaut instructor of Virgin Galactic, Colin bennett, chief operation and maintenance engineer, and Celia Bandera, vice president of government affairs and operations research.

Bennett said that in the first phase of the flight, he was busy with the task at hand, and then he heard Moses shout, "Don't forget to look out of the window."

He did watch it. "Very Zen." Bennett described the landscape of the earth below. "What attracts me most is the colors and how far they look. I think we are flying too high, which dazzles me. "

Bandera's task is to evaluate another target market of Virgin Galactic: let scientists work out how to use microgravity environment for a few minutes. She conducted an experiment at the University of Florida to observe how plants respond to the changing environment during flight, especially in the environment of gravity fluctuation, which is part of the research to help grow food in future long-term space missions.

When the spacecraft re-enters the atmosphere, the downward pull of gravity will be restored. Spacecraft 2 glided back to the spaceport and landed.

Virgin Galactic President Moses said the flight was almost impeccable. "There is nothing wrong with the hull. It looks like new," Moses said.

The informal 70-year-old Branson owns many companies under Virgin Group. For more than a decade, he has repeatedly declared that he believes that commercial flights will be realized soon. About 600 customers of Virgin Galactic also think so. They spent $200,000 or more on air tickets to space, but they are still waiting. I also believe that there are taxpayers in New Mexico. In order to attract Branson's company, they paid $220 million to build the future vision of American spaceport in the desert.

After promising to skip air tickets year after year, Virgin Galactic may begin to transport the first paying passengers after two test flights next year. However, because the ticket price is as high as several hundred thousand dollars, most people still can't afford this experience.

Virgin Galactic's space plane is an enlarged version of Spaceship One. Spacecraft 1, as the first reusable manned spacecraft built by a non-governmental organization, reached space twice in two weeks, so it won the Ansari X Prize in 2004 with a prize of 1 million dollars.

Branson initially predicted that commercial flights would begin in 2007. However, the development of the larger "spaceship 1" has delayed the progress.

Bezos's flight will take place about 200 miles southeast of the American spaceport in Van Horne, Texas, where his aerospace company Blue Origin will launch the "New Shepard" rocket and capsule.

Although the origin of blue has not been carried by "New Shepard", 15 successful unmanned flight tests on its fully automatic system have convinced the company that it is safe for Bezos to participate in the first manned flight together.

He was accompanied by his younger brother Mark and 82-year-old pilot Mary Wallace Fink. In the 1960 s, she was one of the strict criteria for selecting astronauts through NASA, but at that time, NASA did not intend to choose female astronauts. The fourth unnamed passenger paid $28 million for a seat at the auction.

Neither the origin of blue nor the space flight of Virgin Galactic can reach the height and speed of entering Earth orbit. These suborbital flights are actually more like giant roller coasters, allowing passengers to float in weightlessness for a few minutes while enjoying the scenery of the earth in the dark space background.

Bezos's company released a tweet on Friday, emphasizing the competition with Virgin Galactic in space travel passengers. The Origin of Blue emphasizes the differences between its "New Shepard" rocket and Virgin Galactic Spacecraft II, including the fact that the flying height of the "New Shepard" rocket is higher than 65,438+000 kilometers or about 62 miles, which is usually regarded as the space boundary. However, the US Air Force and the US Federal Aviation Administration define the border as 50 miles.

The company also pointed out the size of the window of the "New Shepard" space capsule, and called Virgin Galactic's "Spaceship 2" a high-altitude plane, which is very different from the "New Shepard".

Bezos 1 1 Congratulations to Branson and his crew for a smooth flight. I can't wait to join you! He said in an Instagram post.

At the press conference, Branson said, "This is really not a game." He also said, "We wish Jeff all the best."

Blue Origin has not announced the fare, and Virgin Galactic's earlier offer of $250,000 may rise. However, after his trip, at 1 1, Branson announced a lucky draw to give away two seats for future Virgin Galactic space travel.

However, how many people are willing to spend the money equivalent to some luxury homes for a few minutes of space travel?

Karissa Christensen, founder and CEO of aviation consulting firm Bryce Space and Technology, thinks there will be many. She said in an email: "According to the previous ticket sales, surveys and interviews, according to the current price, we saw a strong demand signal. There are hundreds of passengers every year. If the price is greatly reduced, there may be thousands of passengers. "

Anderson of space exploration company is not sure about this.

Twenty years ago, his company did sell suborbital flight experiences, including a ticket for Fink, who was called Wally. "Wally Fink was one of our first clients," Anderson said. "That should have been in 1998." The ticket price at that time was $98,000.

On one occasion, about 200 people signed up to participate, but no suborbital rocket company could provide the spacecraft they promised to fly. Space Exploration Company returned the money to Fink and others.

Now, this unconfirmed suborbital market has become the battlefield of billionaires Branson and Bezos.

If anyone can make money from it and make the suborbital market work, it is Branson and Bezos because they have financial resources and prestige.