WASHINGTON: Call it a space race for billionaires: British mogul Richard Bra­nson one-upped rival Jeff Bezos on Thursday, announcing that he too would blast beyond Earth’s atmosphere — as many as nine days ahead of the Amazon fou­nder.

With both tycoons having created space tourism companies and positioned themselves as leaders in the suborbital-flights-for-the-wealthy sector, the move signalled clear if not fierce competition.

The announcement follows Bezos’s proclamation in early June that he and his brother would be part of the crew on the first manned flight aboard his company Blue Origin’s New Shepard launch vehicle.

The move stole the thunder from Branson, who had long vowed to participate in a Virgin Galactic test flight before the launch of regular commercial operations slated for 2022.

The tables were turned on Thursday however: while Bezos may have thought he could dominate the day’s space news with a morning announcement that barrier-breaking 82-year-old female aviator Wally Funk would join him on his New Shepard flight, it was Branson who had the last laugh.

Virgin Galactic annou­nced Branson would be a “mission specialist” aboard the SpaceShipTwo Unity, which will go to space as early as July 11, “pending weather and technical checks”.

“I truly believe that space belongs to all of us,” Branson said, adding that “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”. If the schedule holds, Branson will make it to the cosmos before Bezos, who said he would travel to space on July 20.

Branson “will evaluate the private astronaut experience and will undergo the same training, preparation and flight as Virgin Galactic’s future astronauts”, the company said.

While Branson’s trip has been several years in the making, Funk’s is 60 years overdue: she was one of the Mercury 13, the first women trained to fly to space from 1960-1961, but excluded because of their gender.

When she blasts off with the Bezos brothers, Funk will become the oldest person ever to go to space, taking part in the journey not only with the siblings but also one other traveller who paid $28 million at auction for the seat.

“I can hardly wait,” Funk said in a video posted on Bezos’s Instagram account, where she is seen hugging the Amazon founder in an explosion of joy.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2021