Around two hours before lifting off, Mr. Branson shared a photo of himself with a shoeless Elon Musk, a billionaire rival in the private conquest of space. “Great to start the morning with a friend,” Mr. Branson said on Twitter. Flanked by two white Range Rovers, the British mogul pedaled to the site at daybreak on a bicycle, a video posted by Mr. Branson showed. In England, where he was knighted by Prince Charles in 2000, the spotlight did not entirely belong to Mr. Branson, however. The show’s hosts tried to interview Mr. Branson when the plane reached space, but the audio feed wasn’t working.

Source: New York Times July 11, 2021 15:34 UTC