Another billionaire might ratchet up the competition in space.
What Happened: Elon Musk stood at the Virgin Galactic Holdings (NYSE: SPCE) Spaceport America headquarters in New Mexico on Sunday to observe the Unity 22 launch into space.
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) and SpaceX creator Elon Musk has reserved a seat on a future Virgin Galactic mission, according to Branson.
“Elon is a buddy, and one day I hope to cruise on one of his ships,” Branson stated.
In September, SpaceX plans to launch a private astronaut mission.
Associated Link: Before the historic spaceflight, Richard Branson hangs out with Elon Musk.
The Reason for Its Importance: Customers ready to pay $200,000 to $250,000 to travel to space with Virgin Galactic have made 600 reservations. Justin Bieber and Leonardo DiCaprio are among those who have made reservations.
Musk could be the most well-known face on Virgin Galactic’s reservation list, indicating his support for the company given that SpaceX could one day be a competitor in space tourism.
Musk’s reservation might stoke a space race between billionaires, with Musk preferring Virgin Galactic over Blue Origin, the startup founded by Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN).
Musk and Bezos have recently fought over their satellite businesses.
SPCE Price Action: Following rumors of an IPO, Virgin Galactic shares slid 17% to $40.69 on Monday.
Photo courtesy of Flickr user Steve Jurvetson.
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