Virgin boss Richard Branson is set to become the first billionaire space tourism tycoon to become an astronaut.

He'll ride his Virgin Galactic rocket plane this afternoon to an altitude of 50 miles above the earth, where the sky turns black and the Earth's horizon curves away.

But is this just a publicity stunt or is there more to it?

Read more here: https://news.sky.com/story/virgin-galactic-for-a-showman-like-richard-branson-his-space-voyage-is-more-than-a-publicity-stunt-12353335

You can watch the launch live later on the Sky News YouTube.

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