into it because it is entertaining, the billionaires race. but there is plenty of room for expanding into space, for the space economy to flourish and for all of the competitors to do well. so it is not like they re duking it out for seats and reservations. a little bit of bragging rights and richard branson said it wasn t a race but promptly scheduled himself before bezos flew today. but there is some of that. at the bottom of the ledger, while some would say it seems like just billionaires playing with toys, you have to look at the bigger picture. literally much bigger picture and beyond the planet to really understand where this all fits. charles, as a former administrator of nasa, how do you see the competition from the companies, from spacex, from blue origin and others? anderson, i don t really look at it as a competition.
we know a lot now about the moon that we didn t know back in the apollo days or even really just 20 years ago. mike: amazon and blue origin founder, jeff bezos, less than 48 hours away from his first trip into outer space. bezos and his brother will be among the first people to fly in a pilotless rocket, 66 miles up. the flight also set to break two other records, hosting the oldest and youngest at trough notes, 82 astronauts, an 82-year-old and 18-year-old. fellow billionaire richard branson wishing bezos well a short time after his own space flight. it really wasn t a race. you know, we re just delighted that everything went so fantastically well. we wish jeff the absolute best and the people who are going up with him during his flight. mike: that was during the show last week, one other fun fact about tuesday s launch, there
it really wasn t a race. you know, we re just delighted that everything wenting so fantastically well. we wish jeff the absolute best and his, the people who are going up with him during his flight. jacqui: that was richard branson after his flight to space last sunday. this, of course, as we wait for jeff bezos flight on tuesday. bezos is flying to space on the first space flight with a civilian crew for blue origin to, a company which he founded two decades ago. blue origin took a dig at branson s company saying only 4% of the world recognizes the lower limit of 80 kilometers or 50 miles as the beginning of space referring to the instance virgin galactic flies to. a little dig from bezos to
this would happen. i never thought we d be flying spaceships like this on a regular basis. so thank you, richard. i think we have a question at the back. sir richard, amelia from channel 9 australia. in terms of making history and beating out your rival, i know you ve been very clear this was not a race, but you have won. how does that feel now to have come first, and what words do you have for your competitors and friends in the space tourism industry? i ve said this so many times. it really wasn t a race. we re just delighted that everything went so fantastically well. we wish jeff the absolute best and the people going up with him during his flight.
above the new mexico desert made richard branson the first founder of a privately-run space company to reach space beating out jeff bezos who s set to launch in just nine days. it really wasn t a race. we re just delighted that everything went so fantastically well. we wish jeff the absolute and his, the people who are going up with him during his flight are. reporter: branson, obviously, overjoyed by this moment, years and years of work finally coming to a successful mission. he compared it to a childhood dream coming true. and i think for a lot of people here, it was a huge step for space tourism. and branson even saying that he hopes it s a big step for young people, and he s excited to see what s in store for them in the future. eric? eric: all right, jeff. like the jetsons at some point,