>>Maria Bartiromo: The reception you've gotten
from traveling to space, what are you expecting
that to look like in five years? Or is it
10 years? You tell us.
>>Richard Branson: Well, 5 years from now
I think we'll still be most likely the only
commercial spaceship company in the world.
I think that -- and by -- and we will have
taken into space by five years from now, I
would say, 20 times the amount of people that
NASA have taken into space in the last 60
years. So we're going to be able to create
a lot of astronauts. And people are going
to have the voyage of their lives. So they're
going to have an incredible experience.
Our initial flight is going to be suborbital.
Five years from now we'll be doing orbital
flights.
Over the next five years we'll also be putting
satellites into space at a fraction of the
price that it costs today. So, you know, that
could mean that universities could afford
to have their own satellites. Schools even
could afford to have their own satellites.
So that's going to be tremendously exciting.
And then, if you go forward 15-20 years -- I
mean, I just arrived from Shanghai this morning,
feeling a little bit like it. But, after a
21-hour journey, you know, 15, 20 years from
now, I hope that we'll be able to transport
you to Shanghai in maybe two hours and just
pop you out of the earth's atmosphere and
pop you state back down again.
[ laughter ]
>>Maria Bartiromo: Wow!
>>Richard Branson: And, anyway, we'll try
to speed your time up at the airport.
[ laughter ]
how do you see the world today? What is your
expectations of how things will shift in the
coming ten years?
>>Richard Branson: That's a big question.
>>Maria Bartiromo: And this -- Look globally,
you know, geographies, as well as sort of
--
>>Richard Branson: Well, I mean, I think it
was well summarized earlier. I mean, there's
no question that -- you know, it's incredibly
exciting what's happening in South America.
Again, it was well pointed out, you know,
Africa's growing, you know, 5 or 6% a year,
enormous growth. It's a tremendous thing seeing
what's going on in Africa, enormous potential
there for the people to be lifted out of poverty.
And, you know, the Far East, I mean, going
to Shanghai is mind-boggling what's happening.
I met a gentleman in Shanghai, he built a
20-story office block in ten days, which were
finished with -- which was 80% more carbon-efficient
than any of your normal office blocks in the
west.
But, I mean, just like a mechanic -- a -- a
mechanical -- help me -- I'm dyslexic -- LEGO,
thank you very much.
>>Maria Bartiromo: There's a LEGO statue right
outside.
>>Richard Branson: Anyway, it's mind-boggling
what's going on there.
So for those of us who live in Europe and
America and, you know, we've got a lot of
hard work ahead to keep up, I think.
