{"id":132936,"date":"2021-07-11T11:03:48","date_gmt":"2021-07-11T15:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=132936"},"modified":"2021-07-11T11:03:48","modified_gmt":"2021-07-11T15:03:48","slug":"billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/","title":{"rendered":"Billionaire Richard Branson flying into space on Virgin Galactic rocket plane"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>

Sir Richard Branson will blast off in his Virgin Galactic passenger rocket plane into space on Sunday \u2014 becoming the first billionaire to do so.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

The Virgin Group founder, who turns 71 in a week, will join five company employees for Sunday\u2019s test flight that will soar about 55 miles above the southern desert of New Mexico.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Branson wasn\u2019t supposed to fly until later this summer, but he assigned himself to the flight after fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos announced plans to ride his own rocket into space from West Texas on July 20.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/div>\n

Virgin\u2019s mission will be the vehicle\u2019s first fully crewed test flight to the edge of space.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

After being delayed by overnight thunderstorms, the white seaplane is due to be launched around 10:30 a.m Eastern time from the state-owned Spaceport of America.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Unlike Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin and Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX rockets, which use capsules attached to reusable booster rockets, the spaceplane is atop a specially designed twin-fuselage carrier jet VMS Eve \u2013 named for Branson\u2019s late mother.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

The rocket engine will separate from the mothership at an altitude of 50,000 feet \u2014 and the crew will experience about 4 minutes of microgravity.<\/p>\n

The entire voyage, from takeoff to touchdown, is expected to take about 90 minutes.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sir Richard Branson will blast off in his Virgin Galactic passenger rocket plane into space on Sunday \u2014 becoming the first billionaire to do so. The Virgin Group founder, who turns 71 in a week, will join five company employees for Sunday\u2019s test flight that will soar about 55 miles above the southern desert of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":132937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional"],"yoast_head":"\nBillionaire Richard Branson flying into space on Virgin Galactic rocket plane - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Billionaire Richard Branson flying into space on Virgin Galactic rocket plane\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sir Richard Branson will blast off in his Virgin Galactic passenger rocket plane into space on Sunday \u2014 becoming the first billionaire to do so. The Virgin Group founder, who turns 71 in a week, will join five company employees for Sunday\u2019s test flight that will soar about 55 miles above the southern desert of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-11T15:03:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Richard-Branson-025-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Billionaire Richard Branson flying into space on Virgin Galactic rocket plane\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-11T15:03:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-11T15:03:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/\"},\"wordCount\":216,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:682\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Richard-Branson-025-1.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Regional\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/\",\"name\":\"Billionaire Richard Branson flying into space on Virgin Galactic rocket plane - Antigua News Room\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:682\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Richard-Branson-025-1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-11T15:03:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-11T15:03:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:682\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Richard-Branson-025-1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:682\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Richard-Branson-025-1.jpeg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Billionaire Richard Branson flying into space on Virgin Galactic rocket plane\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"name\":\"Antigua News Room\",\"description\":\"News As It Happens\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Antigua Newsroom\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"width\":1260,\"height\":1260,\"caption\":\"Antigua Newsroom\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\",\"name\":\"Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"caption\":\"Editor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Billionaire Richard Branson flying into space on Virgin Galactic rocket plane - Antigua News Room","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Billionaire Richard Branson flying into space on Virgin Galactic rocket plane","og_description":"Sir Richard Branson will blast off in his Virgin Galactic passenger rocket plane into space on Sunday \u2014 becoming the first billionaire to do so. The Virgin Group founder, who turns 71 in a week, will join five company employees for Sunday\u2019s test flight that will soar about 55 miles above the southern desert of […]","og_url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/","og_site_name":"Antigua News Room","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","article_published_time":"2021-07-11T15:03:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":682,"url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Richard-Branson-025-1.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_site":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Editor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/"},"author":{"name":"Editor","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5"},"headline":"Billionaire Richard Branson flying into space on Virgin Galactic rocket plane","datePublished":"2021-07-11T15:03:48+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-11T15:03:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/"},"wordCount":216,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:682\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Richard-Branson-025-1.jpeg","articleSection":["Regional"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/","name":"Billionaire Richard Branson flying into space on Virgin Galactic rocket plane - Antigua News Room","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:682\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Richard-Branson-025-1.jpeg","datePublished":"2021-07-11T15:03:48+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-11T15:03:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:682\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Richard-Branson-025-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:682\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Richard-Branson-025-1.jpeg","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/billionaire-richard-branson-flying-into-space-on-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Billionaire Richard Branson flying into space on Virgin Galactic rocket plane"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","name":"Antigua News Room","description":"News As It Happens","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization","name":"Antigua Newsroom","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","width":1260,"height":1260,"caption":"Antigua Newsroom"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5","name":"Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","caption":"Editor"},"url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/132937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}