Space Swap: Richard Branson Wants Trip With SpaceX, Suggests Elon Musk Flies With Virgin Galactic

After a trip to space last summer on his own rocket plane, Sir Richard Branson now wants to take another journey beyond the clouds, but this time in a SpaceX rocket.

What Happened: Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, Branson said he's ready for another trip to space in a rocket from the company founded by Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk.

He also expressed a desire to have Musk experience a flight in a Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc SPCE rocket plane.

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to go up on one of his spaceships one day, and he’ll be able to go up on one of ours,” Branson told the news outlet.

Branson and Musk are good friends, and the two spent time together before his flight to space on July 11, 2021.

Branson previously confirmed that Musk has reserved a ticket for a future Virgin Galactic flight. Shortly after safely returning from his space flight last year, Branson said, “Elon’s a friend and maybe I’ll travel on one of his ships one day.”

Left out of the conversation is Amazon.com Inc AMZN founder Jeff Bezos, who rocketed off into space on July 20, 2021, in a Blue Origin rocket, a company he founded in 2000.

Also Read: Elon Musk's SpaceX Set To Launch First All-Private ISS Mission With Axiom Space On Friday

What’s Next For Virgin Galactic: Branson said he’s stepped away from “the sort of heavy-lifting side of my job” at Virgin Galactic, but also promised to “always be involved” with the company. He has sold a significant portion of his holdings in the company since it went public.

Virgin Galactic stock has dropped over 30% so far this year. “I had lunch with Michael [Colglazier] today, and we had a long list of things that I’m planning to do ... so it doesn’t look like I’m ducking out of here,” Branson told CNBC. “I’ll certainly help where I can.”

The latest check of SPCE stock on Benzinga Pro finds shares lost 5.2% Wednesday, closing at $9.11.

Photo: Courtesy of Marco Verch and Web Summit on Flickr.