Sir Richard Branson is set for his first space flight with Virgin Galactic on July 11 and beat Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos, who plans to fly on his spacecraft nine days later.
In a battle of the billionaire space entrepreneurs, Branson is ready to go into space first as he tests the "private astronaut experience" during the next test flight window, beginning on July 11.
It means checking aspects like views of the Earth, seat comfort and the weightless experience when the rocket takes off from Virgin Galactic's spaceport in New Mexico.
Virgin Galactic were given the go-ahead to fly paying customers to space after its licence was updated by the United States' Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) earlier this month.
Bezos has said he would fly on July 20, the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
His space company, Blue Origin, has said he would be joined by Wally Funk, 81, a member of the “Mercury 13”, a group of women privately tested and trained by a team of aviation medical experts for NASA’s astronaut programme at the height of the space race in the 1960s.
This month's Unity 22 mission by Virgin Atlantic will be the 22nd flight test for rocket plane VSS Unity and the company's fourth crewed spaceflight.
The company said it also wants to demonstrate the conditions for conducting human-tended research experiments and confirm the training programme at Spaceport America supports the spaceflight experience.
Sir Richard said: "I truly believe that space belongs to all of us.
"After more than 16 years of research, engineering, and testing, Virgin Galactic stands at the vanguard of a new commercial space industry, which is set to open space to humankind and change the world for good.
"It's one thing to have a dream of making space more accessible to all; it's another for an incredible team to collectively turn that dream into reality.
"As part of a remarkable crew of mission specialists, I'm honoured to help validate the journey our future astronauts will undertake and ensure we deliver the unique customer experience people expect from Virgin."
Michael Colglazier, chief executive officer of Virgin Galactic, said: "Our next flight - the 22nd flight test for VSS Unity and our first fully crewed flight test - is a testament to the dedication and technical brilliance of our entire team, and I'd like to extend a special thank you to our pilots and mission specialists, each of whom will be performing important work.
"Tapping into Sir Richard's expertise and long history of creating amazing customer experiences will be invaluable as we work to open the wonder of space travel and create awe-inspiring journeys for our customers."
