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Why the Billionaire Big Space Dick Contest Will Be Good for Earthlings

Look past the vanity games and a whole world of astrotourism and super-fast intercontinental flight comes into view.

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Drew Angerer/Getty

These billionaire space missions are vanity, but they’re not just vanity.

Yes, it’s annoying that Richard Branson, the super-rich founder of the Virgin companies—including space firm Virgin Galactic—booked himself on a planned July 11 test flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, apparently in a bid to beat another rich guy into near-orbit.

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