Branson vs Bezos vs Musk: Who will win the billionaire space race?

Two American billionaires, Jeff Bezos and Sir Richard Branson, are set to fly to the edge of space this month. Branson, who co-founded spaceflight company Virgin Galactic, is to fly as early as on Sunday while Bezos, the world's richest person, has scheduled his space sojourn for July 20. Another aerospace company SpaceX, founded by the mercurial billionaire Elon Musk, has plans to send an all-civilian crew into orbit in September, though Musk himself will not fly. Here's the lowdown on this unusual race:

How did this space race start?

On June 7, Jeff Bezos announced that he, his brother Mark and the winner of an auction (it went for $28 million) will travel on his spaceflight company Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft during its scheduled launch on July 20. The spacecraft, a rocket-and-capsule combo, will take off from Texas, US. The passengers will experience several minutes of weightlessness on the edge of the space.

Things got exciting on July 1 when Branson announced that he will travel to suborbital space on July 11, nine days before Bezos' scheduled sojourn. Virgin Galactic's SpaceShip Two Unity spacecraft will take off from a launchpad in New Mexico, US. According to an AFP report, the spacecraft is not a classic rocket but rather a carrier airplane that reaches a high altitude and releases a smaller spacecraft called the VSS Unity, which then fires its engines and reaches suborbital space before gliding back to earth. The travellers will also experience weightlessness for a brief period.

In Pics | Branson, Bezos & other billionaires who’re gearing up to blast off into space

Is this space race a big deal?

Not really. Except for winning some brownie points and satisfying the ego of the super-rich, this so-called space race is no big deal at all. Many humans (including Indians and people of Indian origin) have travelled to space and beyond. The only worthwhile thing about the sojourns of Branson and Bezos is that someone will be travelling to the edge of space in their own private spacecraft for the first time ever. It's something like travelling in your private jet in this world. The billionaires hope to attract common people to space travel (only if they can afford it).

What about Musk?

Musk hasn't taken interest in flying to suborbital space. "There is a big difference between reaching space and reaching orbit," he tweeted recently. SpaceX has done something else. Last year, the company partnered with NASA to launch two astronauts into the International Space Station by its spacecraft Crew Dragon. It was the first time that a spacecraft owned and operated by a private company had launched humans into orbit. The spacecraft safely returned to Earth on August 3, 2020, in an event which was widely hailed as historic.