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| Elon Musk bought a space ticket from Virgin Galactic |
The Wall Street Journal quoted a company spokesman as saying that billionaire Elon Musk had bought a space ticket from Virgin Galactic founder and billionaire Richard Branson.
SpaceX CEO and founder Musk received a Virgin Galactic ticket before Branson went to space.
It's unclear what Elon Musk's arrangements will be while Virgin Galactic awaits about 600 potential passengers for SpaceShipTwo.
But the post itself is an extension of his apparent friendship with Branson. This friendship contrasts sharply with the apparent hostility toward Amazon and the founder of the space company, Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos.
This post is also an endorsement of the Virgin Galactic missile aircraft.
Branson took his company's SpaceShipTwo spacecraft on a test flight that included elaborate video clips, a concert, and a series of celebrity appearances.
After the successful launch, Branson and three other Virgin Galactic employees circled the cabin briefly in zero gravity and returned to Earth a few minutes later.
Elon Musk supports Virgin Galactic
Elon Musk's company focuses on government contracts to send astronauts and cargo into space. But in September he conducted his first private astronaut mission.
The mission will be a longer and more expensive orbital flight, not just a few minutes above the edge of Earth's atmosphere as with Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin.
Tesla CEO personally watched Branson take off from the US spaceport. Branson tweeted before the trip: Thank you for being such an exemplary supporter and good friend to Elon.
Branson spent a morning with Musk before takeoff. In another tweet, he said: "It's a pleasure to start a new day with friends. It will leave you feeling satisfied, excited and ready.
SpaceShipTwo is a rocket aircraft located at the heart of Virgin Galactic's thriving space tourism business.
Each ticket for one of the six seats on the plane costs about $250,000. So far the company has booked more than 600 passengers. Including celebrities like Justin Bieber and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Blue Origin is Virgin Galactic's most competitive space tourism company. The company's goal is to take customers to a slightly higher altitude with an entirely different system, the New Shepard semi-orbital rocket.