Big money, big air

4

The number of minutes billionaire Richard Branson spent in space July 11 during a test flight of one of his company’s rockets. Branson’s Virgin Galactic is one of several private companies headed by well-known billionaires to begin offering trips to space for well-heeled private citizens. Joining Branson in the new billionaire space race are SpaceX founder Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose aerospace company Blue Origin began taking tourists to space in July.

$28M

The price one anonymous man paid at a ­charity auction for a spot on Bezos’ July 20 space flight. He pulled out days before the launch, making way for an 18-year-old ­passenger.

4

The number of commercial flights SpaceX plans for customers to the International Space Station over the next two years.

70,000

The number of users to sign up for Starlink, the satellite-based internet service provider from Musk’s SpaceX that promises high-speed internet anywhere on Earth.

42

The width (in inches) of the windows on Blue Origin’s New Shepard space vehicle. Their height is 28 inches, ­markedly larger than Virgin Galactic’s airplane ­windows.