DEV Community

Cover image for Out of this World: Virgin Galactic Makes a Giant Leap for Mankind
Clever Software Group
Clever Software Group

Posted on

Out of this World: Virgin Galactic Makes a Giant Leap for Mankind

From vinyl records to tech and travel, Richard Branson has pretty much got us covered in every aspect of daily life.

This may not be a custom software development based blog this week, but at Clever Software Group, we like to keep our finger on the pulse when it comes to revolutionary moments in history. What took place last Sunday afternoon was most certainly one of those moments (and no, we are not talking about THAT Euro’s final).

Richard Branson and a crew of talented individuals embarked on Virgin Galactic’s first out of this world adventure. Having already conquered the music, telecommunications and health industries, it only seems natural that the next steps for the founder of one of the world’s most iconic brands, was to explore space travel.

At 3.30pm on Sunday 11th July 2021, Branson and the crew of Unity 22, were launched into the great unknown. The flight was a great success and in the dawn of a new age space race, Branson and the Virgin Galactic team entered the stratosphere 9 days ahead of Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos. Coined the ‘Billionaire Space Race’, Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000, with Virgin Galactic following suit 4 years later. 2 decades have passed since two of the world’s wealthiest men began their space odyssey mission, with Branson just pipping the post with his flight last week.

The launch not only marked the spaceline’s fourth space flight, but its first fully crewed test flight. Having reach an altitude of 53.3 miles, the flight took place from Spaceport America, located in New Mexico, Texas. Spaceport America is the first purpose-built commercial space port. It seems that Branson is still continuing to add to the already gigantic number of ‘firsts’ he already has under his belt.

With a rich legacy now behind him, Branson originally founded Virgin Records in the 1970s, as a company that sold records via mail order. Having crossed literal oceans and broken many records throughout his outstanding career, the groundbreaking entrepreneur was hungry for his next big challenge. Branson has even described Virgin Galactic as being “the greatest adventure of them all”.

Virgin Galactic is intended to be the world’s first commercial spaceline. Although it may seem like a sci-fi idea to many, the dream is that space travel will become an everyday occurrence for everyday people. Just like popping on a flight from Bristol to Edinburgh, space travel will be accessible for all. Humankind has been venturing into space for just shy of 65 years. What was unimaginable over half a century ago, has become run of the mill in today’s digital society. The general public being able to experience space travel first hand, will be a very poignant aspect of the not-so-distant future. Now, it is more about when it will become a daily occurrence, instead of how and by what means.

Virgin Galactic’s first fully crewed test flight one small step towards a bigger advancement in space travel, but one giant leap towards an exciting new adventure of humankind.

Top comments (0)