Sir Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Galactic, will be travelling to space on July 11. The 70-year-old billionaire has waited 17 years for this moment. He will be taken to space on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo vehicle, which will be launched by the VSS Eve airplane. VSS Unity will be taking the six-member crew, including Branson to more than 50 miles (80 km) up in the atmosphere. Branson will be travelling to space just days ahead of Jeff Bezos, who will be flying on a Blue Origin spacecraft on July 20.

The timeline:

Virgin Galactic was founded by Branson in 2004 with the aim of privatising space exploration and tourism.

The Spaceship Company was founded in 2005 by Branson and Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan, a retired aerospace engineer, to manufacture and design spaceships for Virgin Galactic

In 2007, three employees were killed and three others were injured in a blast while testing components of the rocket for SpaceShipTwo.

In 2008, Branson said that Virgin Galactic would begin its maiden voyage within 18 months at the unveiling of the Eve launch aeroplane.

VSS Eve and SpaceShipTwo completed their first collaborative flight in 2010.

In 2014, after years of delay, the VSS Enterprise broke apart mid-air during the fourth rocket-powered test flight, leading to the death of the co-pilot.

Two years later, VSS Unity was rolled out as a replacement for the VSS Enterprise.

In May 2021, VSS Enterprise completed the sixth powered test flight reaching an altitude of 89km (55 miles).