Riyadh, Oct 26 (AFP) Saudi Arabia's Public InvestmentFund today announced a USD 1 billion investment in Britishbillionaire Richard Branson's space tourism company VirginGalactic.
The announcement on the sidelines of an investment summitin Riyadh comes nearly a month after the Virgin Group foundersaid he would invest in the kingdom's Red Sea project thataims to turn 50 Saudi islands into luxury tourismdestinations.
"This investment will enable us to develop the nextgeneration of satellite launches and accelerate our programmefor point to point supersonic space travel," Branson said.
The billionaire added that Virgin Galactic was just"months away" from going into space with people on board andhis other company Virgin Orbit placing satellites around theEarth.
Branson last year unveiled a new commercial spaceship ina ceremony in California, with his company stressing thatcommercial space flights would not be available until theycould be done safely.
The company's efforts faced a major setback when thefirst version of the SpaceShipTwo disintegrated overCalifornia's Mojave Desert in October 2014, with investigatorsblaming premature brake deployment during the test flight.
Saudi Arabia's investment appears to be part of acollaboration with Branson, who praised the kingdom's economicand social reforms spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed binSalman.
"I am so excited about Saudi Arabia," Branson told theFuture Investment Initiative in Riyadh.
"Last time I looked at audience I could only see men. NowI look out and see men and women siting together." (AFP)NSA.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.