[영어 기사] The Billionaire Space Race

The Billionaire Space Race

The rivalry or contest that has recently been dubbed the “billionaire space race” has taken a turn for the worst for Amazon founder and richest person in the world, Jeff Bezos. After a string of announcements that expressed success for the initiatives, tests, and accomplishments of Bezos' Blue Origin, British billionaire Richard Branson's own space tourism venture, Virgin Galactic, released its plans to launch a trip nine days before Blue Origin's planned launch date of July 20.

Since the early 2000s, the two billionaires, Branson and Bezos, have been vying to launch suborbital rockets that can transport wealthy, thrill-seeking tourists. Both companies aim to launch spacecrafts high above the earth that can move at over 3,700 km/h. Virgin Galactic looked like it would be the first to start moving its customers into space. However, after a few mishaps, which included an accident in 2014 that resulted in the death of a co-pilot, plans were delayed and goals were re-examined. Blue Origin, Bezos' company, made breaking headlines when they announced their mid-July launch. The first voyage would include the billionaire himself, his brother Andrew, American aviator Wally Funk, and the winner of an auctioned ticket that sold for over $28 million (W31 billion).

The respective journeys will mark a pivotal moment in the life of each company, as a ride with the founders aboard will demonstrate how safe the spacecrafts actually are. Branson's decision to ramp up the timeline to undercut Bezos' is being viewed as a tactical one in order to claim a win in this space race.

 

Voca

 rivalry, dubbed, billionaire, vying to, suborbital, thrill-seeking, auctioned, pivotal, ramp up, under cut

 

Topic

1. Since the early 2000s, the two billionaires, Branson and Bezos, have been vying to launch suborbital rockets that can transport wealthy, thrill-seeking what?

 The two billionaires have been vying to launch suborbital rockets that can transport wealthy, thrill-seeking tourists

2. Blue Origin, Bezos' company, made breaking headlines when they announced their mid-July what?

 when they announced their mid-july 

3. Branson's decision to ramp up the timeline to undercut Bezos' is being viewed as a tactical one in order to claim a win in what race?

 

4. Do you think that Branson and Bezos are rushing these launches?

5. Would you ever consider travelling on one of these rockets?

6. Do you think it is good that billionaires are making space travel possible for all people?

7. Do you think it is dangerous for people to travel to space without proper training?