Mars: it's Virgin territory
- By Jack Preston -
- Sep 28, 2012
Richard Branson has spoken of his determination to begin a population on Mars, as the world’s first commercial spaceline, Virgin Galactic, continues preparations for its first voyage into space.
"In my lifetime, I'm determined to be a part of starting a population on Mars. I think it’s absolutely realistic. It will happen," explained the Virgin Group founder to CBS This Morning.
These comments come on the back of Dutch company, Mars One, revealing further details of their plan to create a settlement on the red planet by 2023. The ambitious project will be funded by creating the ‘biggest media spectacle in history’, to find out more check out the video below.
Back on earth, Branson was keen to point out the importance of the leading role the private sector would now take in space travel, as governments roll back their programmes: “You've got a Democratic party who have decided, 'Let's now let private enterprise take this forward. I think they're absolutely right. The private companies can do it at a fraction of the price."
"I think over the next 20 years, we will take literally hundreds of thousands of people to space and that will give us the financial resources to do even bigger things."
If you’d like to book your flight into space, head over to the Virgin Galactic website.
By Jack Preston. Content Executive. Tweets at @JackPressedOn
