The big picture: Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson took part in the company's first crewed spaceflight over the weekend, beating Jeff Bezos and his spaceflight company Blue Origin to the punch by a mere nine days. And soon enough, another well-known tech billionaire will get to experience weightlessness at the edge of space.
A spokesperson for Virgin Galactic recently told The Wall Street Journal that SpaceX founder Elon Musk has a ticket for a trip to space with Galactic. It's unclear how far down the wait list Musk is, but the company said they've made $80 million on ticket sales and deposits thus far.
A single ticket commands for $250,000, we're told, but if you're lucky enough, perhaps you could score one courtesy of Galactic's sweepstakes.
Big day ahead. Great to start the morning with a friend. Feeling good, feeling excited, feeling ready.
--- Richard Branson (@richardbranson) July 11, 2021
Watch #Unity22 launch and livestream TODAY at 7:30 am PT | 10:30 am ET | 3:30 pm BST.@virgingalactic @elonmusk https://t.co/1313b4RAKI pic.twitter.com/FRQqrQEbH8
Will Whitehorn, who served as Virgin Galactic's president until 2010, told Forbes that Musk bought his ticket way back in 2006. "I know because I sold it to him," Whitehorn added.
One might expect Musk and Branson to be rivals or perhaps even enemies, but that simply isn't the case. The two are actually friends, and on the morning of Branson's historic flight, Musk even came for a visit. Branson in a preflight interview told London's Sunday Times that he might even travel on one of Musk's ships one day.