Sir Richard Branson’s time in space was just a few minutes, but it was a journey 25 years in the making. During Wednesday’s closing keynote at SATELLITE 2021, Branson shared that he registered “Virgin Galactic” and “Virgin Intergalactic” as business names 25 years ago. This journey recently culminated with the July 11 flight to suborbital space on the SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity vehicle.
Branson appeared virtually alongside Dan Hart, CEO of Virgin Orbit. He called his launch company the “ultimate recycling example”: “We found a way to put our old 747s to good use. They have consistently put satellites into orbit, and we couldn’t be happier. If we hadn’t used the 747 for this purpose, it would have ended up in the scrapyard.”
Explore the Show Daily 2021 Day 4 Issue
Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.
On national security applications: “If a foreign power knocks satellites out of space, the great thing about Virgin Orbit is that we can scramble quickly and put satellites into orbit at very short notice. We are confident apart from the normal industry demand, there is another world out there who would like to use us.” Virgin Orbit can launch from standard runways: “There are 130 countries which don’t have launch capabilities. We can give them that.”
On the future: “There are exciting U.K. companies emerging in this area. There are a lot of brilliant British scientists that will give the world a run for their money.” Branson prefers partnerships over pure commercial launches: “We are more excited at the thought of partnering with people with great ideas. If there are people out there who have got ideas, there is an open door at Virgin Orbit.”
On going to space again: “I would love to go again. The adrenaline has not worn off. It was more extraordinary than I ever imagined. Based on the waiting list, I will be in my nineties before I get a chance to go again.” VS
