Richard Branson launched Virgin Galactic in 2004. He wanted to start an era of space tourism but, as yet, not a single paying passenger has flown. Two fatal accidents — which occurred while VG was working with the design and manufacturing company Scaled Composites — have held the project back: a fuel tank exploded during ground testing, killing three, and one rocket broke up in mid-air, killing the pilot.
Meanwhile, Blue Origin, a Jeff Bezos space tourism project, is moving ahead and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has flown crew to the International Space Station. Private spacefaring may well be the future, but will Branson be among the contenders?
Space is, as Branson and others have said, hard. But, because of his decision to go with some
