Elon Musk wants space ride with competitor Richard Branson
Elon Musk does want to take a ride in Richard Branson’s spacecraft, after the latter recently went to space.
At first glance, Elon Musk and Richard Branson are tough competitors. SpaceX and Virgin Galactic are both part of the new space race. Both companies want to make commercial space flights accessible. Both entrepreneurs have to survive in this hugely competitive field. Still, they turn out to be big buddies. Musk even confides in Branson his life.
Elon Musk <3 Richard Branson
The two unprecedentedly wealthy men may well have businesses competing with each other. Yet they are private mates, according to a post from Branson on Twitter. He calls Musk a friend in it. The two meet shortly before Branson travels to the edge of space in a spacecraft of his own.
Now it appears that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO also likes it. Richard Branson tells the Wall Street Journal that Elon Musk has bought a ticket for one of those ‘space trips’. Virgin Galactic would sell tickets for $250,000 each. In total, Branson’s company is said to have already earned $80 million in tickets ordered. If the two are such good friends, Musk may even get priority in the very expensive row.
Still, the move is striking, given that SpaceX actually wants to achieve similar things to Virgin Galactic. Musk actually expresses his support for the competitor here. In addition, it would of course be incredibly embarrassing if something went wrong during the space flight with Musk in a chair; something that is always real in contemporary space travel. Anyway, it doesn’t look like Musk will be going to space any time soon. He is usually very reserved when it comes to testing such products.
