Pop Spotlight

UPDATE: Sir Richard Branson and his team of astronauts successfully ventured into space Sunday before returning to Earth – or Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, home of his Spaceport America — in their Unity 22 space plane, a flight that both won the billionaire space race and marked the first commercial spaceflight.

“We’re here to make space more accessible to all,” Branson said following the flight. “We want to turn the next generation of dreamers into the astronauts of today and tomorrow. We’ve all us on this stage have had the most extraordinary experience, and we’d love it if a number of you can have it, too. If you ever had a dream, now is the time to make it come true. I’d like to end by saying welcome to the dawn of a new space age.”

I have dreamt about this moment since I was a child, but going to space was more magical than I ever imagined https://t.co/Wyzj0nOBgX #Unity22 @virgingalactic pic.twitter.com/grs7vHAzca

— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) July 11, 2021

***

Sir Richard Branson and his team of Virgin Galactic astronauts will make their voyage into space during a livestream Sunday.

Stephen Colbert will serve as host of the livestream as the Unity 22 plane introduces the world to commercial spaceflight, the first vessel in a space race that also includes Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX; Musk was on hand in New Mexico to witness Branson (“Astronaut 001”) take flight.

Additionally, Khalid will debut his new song “New Normal” on stage following the Unity 22 crew’s landing of the VSS Unity.

Khalid told Rolling Stone of the track, “Around this time last year, I was super fascinated and gravitated toward space. I was watching this comet by the name of Neowise last year, and space travel is something that I’ve always been interested in as well. And I’ve been going through the motions of understanding this new, postmodern future that’s coming together, especially when it comes down to technology — it’s something that really excites me.”