Richard Branson to be passenger on Virgin Galactic's maiden full passenger space flight this month

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE:SPCE) will carry Sir Richard Branson in its first rocket powered flight into space carrying a full crew of two pilots and four passengers. A flight window has opened for the space flight on Sunday 11 July to allow Branson, the company’s founder, to test the ‘private astronaut’ experience, incidentally just over a week before billionaire space rival Jeff Bezos is scheduled for his first trip into space.  This followed the successful test flight for SpaceShipTwo Unity in May and the awarding of the first 'spaceline'  licence in the world from the US regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), last month. Unity 22, as the mission has been dubbed, will allow the company to test and evaluate the cabin and customer experience with a full crew for its intended space tourism business, including the cabin environment, seat comfort, the weightless experience, and the views of Earth from the spaceship. Branson and his three other passengers, when taking a break from mooning for the camera, will also demonstrate the conditions for conducting human research experiments and confirming that the on-the-ground training program provides sufficient support and preparation for the spaceflight experience. Virgin Galactic will also share an online video livestream of the spaceflight for the first time, available to watch via its social media channels from 7am Mountain Daylight Time/2pm BST on the day of the flight. Chief executive Michael Colglazier said: “Tapping into Sir Richard’s expertise and long history of creating amazing customer experiences will be invaluable as we work to open the wonder of space travel and create awe-inspiring journeys for our customers.” Branson added: “I truly believe that space belongs to all of us. After more than 16 years of research, engineering, and testing, Virgin Galactic stands at the vanguard of a new commercial space industry, which is set to open space to humankind and change the world for good.”