- July 8, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
Richard Branson hopes to beat Jeff Bezos into space this Sunday with the sort of high-profile act that made the British billionaire famous and helped him build his Virgin Group into a global brand.
Back on the ground, Mr. Branson’s business empire—straddling airlines, cruise ships, hotels and gyms—is trying to recover from the economic hit that many tourism and travel-focused businesses have suffered during the pandemic. Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc., the space-tourism company that will take Mr. Branson on its first fully crewed space flight this weekend, and his satellite-launch company, Virgin Orbit, have been bright spots. They have been his main focus for several years, according to people familiar with the matter.
The launch, assuming no weather or technical issues, is scheduled nine days before Mr. Bezos, the Amazon.com Inc. founder, is slated to be part of the first crew carried by his own space-tourism…
