Jeff Bezos wishes Richard Branson 'a successful and safe' flight ahead of his journey to the edge of space

jeff bezos richard branson thumb 4x3 — Jeff Bezos (left) and Richard Branson (right) may be in a very tight space race.
Alex Wong/Getty Images; Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Jeff Bezos on Saturday wished Richard Branson well ahead of his historic edge of space flight.
Branson is set to make history on Sunday by becoming the first founder of a space company to launch to the edge of space.
Bezos also plans to make his own space trip nine days after Branson's.
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Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos on Saturday wished fellow billionaire Richard Branson luck ahead of his historic journey to the edge of space scheduled to take place Sunday.

"@richardbranson wishing you and the whole team a successful and safe flight tomorrow," said Bezos in an Instagram post on Saturday afternoon. "Best of luck!"

Branson's trip Sunday comes just nine days ahead of Bezos' own planned trip to space with his brother and other crew aboard his company Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft. Branson will become the first founder of a space company to launch to the edge of space.

"Ever since I was five years old, I've dreamed of traveling to space," Bezos said in a previous Instagram post. "On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother."

When Branson announced he planned to beat Bezos to space by just over a week, Bob Smith, the CEO of Blue Origin said that Bezos would be traveling further into space than Branson.

"We wish him a great and safe flight, but they're not flying above the Kármán line and it's a very different experience," Smith told The New York Times earlier this month.

A post shared by Jeff Bezos (@jeffbezos)

The Kármán line is about 62 miles from the surface of the Earth, according to NOAA.

In an interview with NBC's "TODAY" show, Branson said there was no competition between him and Bezos.

"I know nobody will believe me when I say it, but honestly there's isn't," Branson said earlier this week.

Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX, wished Branson luck earlier Saturday and implied that he'd be in attendance at Branson's launch Sunday.

Branson on Sunday will join Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo crew as the VVS Unity ascends to an altitude of 55 miles. Once the craft reaches its maximum altitude, the pilots will cut the engines, causing it to drift and allowing Branson and the fellow crew and passengers to feel weightless for up to five minutes.

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