Sir Richard Branson on Virgin Galactic, the 1969 moon landing, and the future of space travel

This week, Virgin Galactic announced that it’s going public. Next week, NASA is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. We’re excited to reflect on a special episode of KindredCast featuring Sir Richard Branson, who appeared on the show in May 2019. Here’s what we learned:

1. The 1969 moon landing inspired the launch of Virgin Galactic.

Apollo 11 landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969, just two days after Branson’s 19th birthday. Like many teenagers and kids at the time, witnessing this historic event on television put stars in his eyes. “I remember watching it vividly with my family, and my parents, on a small black and white TV set,” Branson said. “Like most kids at that age we thought one day we’ll go into space.”

Once the fervor of the Space Race died down, it became clear to Branson that the U.S., China, and Russia weren’t all that interested in sending more people to space. Fourteen years ago, he decided to take initiative. “I registered the name Virgin Galactic Airways,” Branson said. “I’m an optimist, I also registered Virgin Intergalactic Airways, and we set about looking for a genius engineer who could start developing a spaceship program. We were fortunate enough to come across Burt Rutan who’s a genius when it comes to space engineering. In the last two months we sent five people into space, which is the first time I think since 2012, 2013, 2011.”

2. Branson was planning on sending Stephen Hawking to space.

The Virgin Group founder noted the importance of fitness and good health in preparation for space travel. “I just think that if you are incredibly fit you’re going to have a much better than if you’re not,” Branson said. “And it’s a good excuse to get fit anyway.”

If you’re not Jillian Michaels or The Rock, don’t fret! You don’t have to be among the fittest to earn a spot on a Virgin Galactic shuttle. Branson had originally planned to send Stephen Hawking to space before his death. Yet, Branson extolled the virtues of having a personal trainer, especially as he approaches 70. “I have this delightful lady who stands over me one hour a day doing weight training and other things, and couldn’t feel better for it,” Branson said. “And that’s great from just one’s daily living. But also will be really good for hopefully my space flight.”

3. To Branson, life is primarily about climbing “the second mountain.”

Around the time we spoke with Branson, we also interviewed David Brooks about his latest bestseller, The Second Mountain: The Quest of a Moral Life. It seems like Branson has climbed about a dozen proverbial mountains throughout his lifetime by constantly pursuing new projects, so we asked for his insights on what others can do to give back.

“There are some people in this room who can think globally, there are some people in this room who can think nationally, there’s some people in this room who can think locally,” Branson said. “Depending on one’s fire power, if you’re working for a company that is trying to sort out the problems of the world, all the people working for you are going to feel that they have a much bigger reason for existing than if it’s just a money making machine. If every single business in the world can adopt a problem and get out there to try to fix that problem, and it can be a small local problem, or a bigger problem. The world would be a better place. It’s tremendously exciting doing it as well.”

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To listen to our interview with Sir Richard Branson, check out this special episode of KindredCast, embedded below, and available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.