Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Today Richard Branson Is Headed To The Edge Of Space

(SOUNDBITE OF SLEEPY TOM'S "CRYSTAL HAZE")

RICHARD BRANSON: If you've ever had a dream, now is the time to make it come true. And I'd just like to end by saying, welcome to the dawn of a new space age.

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

That was a frankly giddy Richard Branson, the 70-year-old founder of the Virgin Group, speaking after his trip to the edge of space today. His voyage was part of another test flight for Virgin Galactic's passenger rocket plane, the VSS Unity, the first one with a full crew and the first one with the boss on board.

(SOUNDBITE OF SLEEPY TOM'S "CRYSTAL HAZE")

GARCIA-NAVARRO: The Unity safely landed at Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. The aim of Virgin Galactic is to usher in an era of astro-tourism, where for a lot of money, the hope is regular people can make the flight, too, one day soon. And another billionaire with space dreams, Jeff Bezos, is set to blast off July 20. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.