Aviation

Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson says he will be in space in six months

Richard Branson has claimed he will be able to go into space within the next six months.

The billionaire entrepreneur said he expects to make his first voyage with his Virgin Galactic space programme. He added that the company is still on target to send tourists into space by the end of next year.

He remained optimistic about the company’s future three years on from a crash which resulted in the death of one pilot and injured another in California’s Mojave Desert.

Despite this and a number of smaller setbacks, over 700 potential customers, including scientists such as Stephen Hawkingand celebrities such as Brad Pitt and Ashton Kutcher, have signed up to take a $250,000 (£200,000) trip on one of its crafts.

Speaking at the Nordic Business Forum in Helsinki, Finland last week, Mr Branson said: “We are hopefully about three months before we are in space, maybe six months before I’m in space.”

He added that his space exploration rival Elon Musk, who is behind the Space X programme to produce reusable rockets, was likely to reach Mars before him, the Daily Mail reported.

“I’m not as passionate about Mars as Elon is,” he said. “My love for space is about how much it can do for people back here on Earth, and that’s what Virgin Galactic is pushing towards.”

Mr Musk recently announced plans to get to Mars by 2022.

Related Topics:Aerospace Richard branson Virgin Virgin Galactic'

Aviation

No More Jet Airways. Supreme Court Says “No Choice”, Orders Liquidation

Jet Airways was once one of India’s leading airlines, known for its service and extensive network. Founded in 1993, it served millions of passengers, connecting cities across India and international destinations.

However, since grounding its flights in April 2019, Jet Airways has struggled to navigate financial turbulence, leading to years of efforts to revive the airline and return it to the skies.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered the liquidation of Jet Airways, citing “no choice” but to take this decisive step after the resolution plan failed to meet creditor obligations. The court invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142, which allows it to make orders for “complete justice” in any case, overriding previous tribunal rulings.

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The Jalan-Kalrock Consortium (JKC), which had won the bid to revive Jet, faced criticism for not fulfilling payment commitments to creditors, which included major banks like the State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank.

The Supreme Court’s ruling pointed to “peculiar and alarming” issues surrounding the resolution plan’s implementation, leading to its conclusion that liquidation was the only feasible outcome.

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Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, alongside Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, emphasized that while liquidation should be a last resort, it was necessary as the resolution plan was “no longer capable of implementation.”

In line with this decision, the court ordered that the ₹200 crore already infused by JKC be forfeited and directed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in Mumbai to appoint a liquidator to oversee the process.

JKC, a partnership between Murari Jalan, a UAE-based Indian entrepreneur, and Florian Fritsch, a Jet shareholder through Kalrock Capital Partners Limited, had taken ownership of Jet Airways two years after it was grounded. The consortium’s inability to fulfill its financial obligations has now led to this final verdict, marking the end of an era for Jet Airways in India.