Ahead of the billionaire space race this month, Blue Origin is throwing shade at Virgin Galactic over what counts as a trip to space.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was ready to grab headlines by taking a trip to space later this month. He will be a part of the first crewed mission for his company, Blue Origin, when it launches its New Shepard rocket later this month on July 20. However, Bezos recently got scooped by Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson, who made a surprise announcement that he will be riding aboard his company’s VSS Unity craft tomorrow, July 11. This seems to have sparked some animosity between the two companies based on who will make it to space first. But Blue Origin has recently made the argument that Virgin Galactic’s plans don’t technically count as a trip to space, in a tweet posted yesterday, Friday, July 9. The issue at stake is how high each company plans to fly its craft, and where the official boundary for space lies.
