Billionaire space race goes far beyond joyrides
Billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos flew to space this month on rockets built by space start-ups they founded
On July 11, Richard Branson (net worth USD5bn), founder of the Virgin conglomerate, ascended to 85 kilometres on a rocket-powered aircraft developed by Virgin Galactic. Nine days later, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (net worth USD208bn) reached 106 kilometres on the New Shepard rocket developed by his space company, Blue Origin. Both say regular rides for paying passengers will commence soon.
Our judgement
'Space rides' could become routine and profitable, but the market will never be large because prices will never reach mass market affordability. Expectations of a coming 'space boom' are by no means far-fetched, but it will be driven by satellites and the services they provide on earth, not by passengers.
See INTERNATIONAL: 'Space rides' are just the start - July 30, 2021