Test-failure Richard Branson still reaching for the stars

SIR Richard Branson has revealed that his space tourism venture Virgin Galactic is costing him close to £10million a month, but has vowed to press on with the project despite last October’s fatal crash.

Richard BransonGETTY

Richard Branson reaches for the stars with his space tourism venture Virgin Galactic

The billionaire founder of the Virgin conglomerate, speaking at the launch of Virgin Atlantic’s new route between London and Detroit, pledged to make Virgin Galactic a success.

“We’ll make it safe and affordable for people, we never give up,” he told the Financial Sunday Express.

“I’ve invested $15 million (£9.6million) on this project every month and we’ll continue until it happens.”

We’ll make it safe and affordable for people, we never give up

Richard Branson

The test flight crash in which one co-pilot was killed and the other seriously injured, appears to have been due to human error, but US accident investigators are yet to publish their findings.

Branson also said that he is looking to raise $400 million (£256.9 million) to help develop One Web, a satellite network that will provide high-speed internet access to hard-to-reach areas.

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