Did You Know? Richard Branson Set To Go Into Space This Sunday, Has A Special Indian Connection

Billionaire businessman and founder of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson claimed that his great, great, great grandmother Aria was an Indian.

Image: Richard Branson (@richardbranson/Twitter)

To everyone’s amazement, Richard Branson, the billionaire businessman and founder of the Virgin Group, who is preparing to launch into space the coming Sunday, has a surprise Indian connection: an ancestor from Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu.

The British business tycoon, who visited Mumbai back in 2019, to commemorate his airline Virgin Atlantic's new route to the city, claimed that Cuddalore is home to a branch of his family that dates back to 1793 and that his great, great, great grandmother Aria was an Indian.

"I knew that I had past generations living in India but haven't realised how strong our connections were. So, it turned out that from 1793, we had four generations living here in Cuddalore and one of my great, great, great grandmothers was an Indian named Aria who was married to one of my great, great, great grandfathers," he said during his visit. "Every time I meet an Indian, I say we might be relatives," the 70-year-old jokingly added.

He also revealed Virgin Atlantic's newest flying icon in 2020 after his great, great, great grandmother’s name, Aria.

On July 11, Branson's Virgin Galactic will launch its first fully crewed mission outside the earth's atmosphere. Set to launch from New Mexico, Branson is one of the six crew members who will on board Virgin Galactic's 'VSS Unity,' this Sunday.

The "Unity 22" mission will be VSS Unity's 22nd flight test and fourth crewed spacecraft. It will also be the first to have a full crew in the cabin, comprising of two pilots and four mission specialists along with the company's founder.

Completing the mission before July 20, 2021 will make Richard Branson the first billionaire to fly into space, winning the new space race by nine days over fellow billionaire and e-commerce giant Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.