His biographer describes him as “a card player with a weak hand who plays to strength,” but also a “self-made and self-deprecating man whose flamboyance endears him to aspiring tycoons, who snap up his books and flock to his lectures to glean the secrets of fortune-hunting.”īut all of that was in the past the turmoil and hardship would hopefully make the triumph all that much sweeter. One poll ranked him second among people whom British children should emulate Jesus Christ came third. Branson has appeared on lists of both hucksters and heroes. His record on delivering promises has made him a polarising figure. Branson confessed that had he known in 2004 what he knew now, “I wouldn’t have gone ahead with the project… We simply couldn’t afford it.” Meanwhile, other private space companies, such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, were making progress.

In 2004: “It is envisaged that Virgin Galactic will open for business by the beginning of 2005 and, subject to the necessary safety and regulatory approvals, begin operating flights from 2007.” Then, in 2009: “I’m very confident that we should be able to meet 2011.” Later, in 2017: “We are hopefully about three months before we are in space, maybe six months before I’m in space.”

After it came out, in August 2018, I spent another two years reporting and writing a book about the test pilots who fly Branson’s spaceship.Īmid the tragedies and setbacks, Branson remained optimistic of the prospect of imminent success. I approached the company shortly after the accident to ask if I could embed with them and write a story about their space programme for the New Yorker. Lofty ambitions: Richard Branson holds a model of LauncherOne in 2012 at the Farnborough Air Show.

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