Billionaire Richard Branson returned to earth with "Unity"

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Richard Branson before the start: successful premiere

Photo: JOE SKIPPER / REUTERS

The British billionaire Richard Branson flew into space with his spaceship - and returned successfully.

According to Branson's company Virgin Galactic, the “VSS Unity” rose to an altitude of more than 80 kilometers after taking off in the US state of New Mexico and plunged into weightlessness.

The 70-year-old left on Sunday with two astronauts and three astronauts. The spaceship was first brought under a mother plane to an altitude of about 14 kilometers and then set down. The engine then fired and the spacecraft accelerated during a steep ascent to more than three times the speed of sound - over 3,500 kilometers per hour. TV footage showed the sky turning from blue to black as Branson and his crew left the atmosphere.

The goal of Branson - and also of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla boss Elon Musk - is to get into the space tourism business. But Branson's All-Trip is also a successful PR coup against his competitor Bezos: The richest man in the world had advertised his flight into space on July 20 at great expense in the past few weeks - then Branson came and announced that he would be nine Days early. The live coverage of the flight by Virgin Galactic gave the impression of an advertising event, in which even the off-road vehicles used for the way to the spaceship were staged.

However, it is disputed among experts whether Branson was actually in space: The International Aviation Association (FAI) and many other experts see 100 kilometers above the earth as the limit to space, but there are no binding international regulations. For example, soldiers in the US Air Force received the designation astronaut, even though they had only flown to an altitude of 50 miles (80.5 kilometers). For comparison: the international space station ISS is located about 400 kilometers above the earth's surface.

The 18-meter-long Unity spaceplane offers space for two pilots and six passengers, and from 2022 it is expected to take tourists into space. The extremely rich adventurer is by no means the first tourist in weightlessness, but he wants to make commercial space flights socially acceptable with Virgin Galactic - just like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. Branson posed with the Tesla boss on a Twitter photo on Sunday morning and wrote: “We have a big day ahead of us. Great to start the morning with a friend. I feel good, excited, ready. "

Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' space company, had already announced a manned flight with the New Shepard rocket in May.

The 57-year-old wants to take his brother and an 82-year-old former US pilot on their maiden flight into space on July 20.

A few weeks ago, another seat was auctioned for $ 28 million to a previously unknown person.

mic / dpa