- Virgin Galactic plans to fly its first full crew to the edge of space on Sunday, including founder Richard Branson.
- SpaceX CEO Elon Musk implied on Twitter he would be at the launch to watch the flight.
- Virgin Galactic's space plane is set to fly with Branson on board just days before Jeff Bezos's launch.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Richard Branson is set to make history on Sunday by becoming the first person to launch to the edge of space on his own company's commercial vehicle, and Elon Musk might be there to watch him make the trip.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and his own space company, SpaceX, wished Branson well on the journey and implied that he would be at the launch site in New Mexico to watch the Virgin Galactic flight.
"Will see you there to wish you the best," Musk wrote on Twitter after retweeting Branson's message about Sunday's planned journey.
-Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2021
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo is set to fly its first full crew, including Branson, to an altitude of 55 miles on Sunday. Once the VSS Unity space plane reaches that level, the pilots cut the engines and allow the vehicle to drift. Passengers can feel weightless for about five minutes. Through the space plane's 17 windows, the four crew members and two pilots should be able to see the Earth curving below them.
"I can't wait," Branson told NBC's Today. "At that moment, we will have become astronauts. I will pinch myself and pinch myself again and again."
Musk's well wishes come hours after another space company founded by a billionaire, Blue Origin, said Virgin Galactic's plane won't actually reach space because it doesn't pass the Kármán line 62 miles up.
Blue Origin's founder, ex-Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, also plans to travel to space this month with a trip set for July 20th.