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The private space industry is currently dominated by SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk, but it has competitors in the form of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. Recently, Branson threw a jab at Musk and said that the Tesla boss is far too obsessed with Mars. In contrast, he and Bezos are supposedly more concerned about helping Earth.
Branson did the shade-throwing in a recent Squawk Box interview, which is a show by CNBC. During his time there, the Virgin CEO revealed some of his plans regarding his company and what Virgin will be doing in the future. A little into the conversation, however, Branson brought up Musk and SpaceX, which aims to put humans on Mars in the next few decades.
"Elon is absolutely fixated on going to Mars and I think it's his life mission," Branson said. "Jeff and ourselves [at the Virgin Group] are more interested in how we can use space to benefit the Earth."
The billionaire points to his rockets that are equipped with wheels, which he believes will put more people in space. In doing so, Branson hopes that humanity can discover ways to protect the planet.
“I think Jeff and ourselves are more interested in how we can use space to benefit the Earth, because the Earth is, in my opinion, extremely beautiful and needs to be protected,” Branson said. “And we’ve just learned about some of the ways we can protect Earth by using space.”
He is not exactly wrong here. By Musk’s own admission, he aims for humanity to be a multi-planet species because the survival of the species depends on it, Inverse reports. Hardly any news involving SpaceX is aimed at making life on Earth easier.
On the other hand, Musk’s car company Tesla Motors is one of the biggest catalysts in the explosive popularity of electric cars over the last decade. His company is also focused on providing better and more efficient renewable energy options, which help fight climate change. As such, it’s not exactly fair to say that he is only concerned about getting off this planet.
