Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic To Beat Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Into Space By 9 Days

Virgin Galactic’s Sir Richard Branson appears to be winning the billionaire space race.

A new video shared on Thursday introduces the crew of Virgin Galactic’s Unity 22, revealing that the launch date will take place on July 11 — nine days before Jeff Bezos is planning to launch his Blue Origin mission on July 20.

Among the various crew members of Unity 22 introduced are Branson himself, a.k.a. “Astronaut 001.”

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“I’ll be evaluating the customer spaceflight experience,” he says.

“As the Virgin Galactic founder, I am so proud to have this remarkable crew of mission specialists and pilots by my side as we fly to space,” Branson continues.

“I’ve always been a dreamer. My mum always taught me to never give up, and to reach for the stars. This July, our dream will become a reality, and we’re really excited to share that moment with you all,” he adds.

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“And when we return, I will announce something very exciting to give more people the chance to become astronauts,” he concludes. “Because space does belong to us all — so watch this space!”