RICHARD Branson is planning to beat Jeff Bezos in the billionaire space race as Virgin Galactic announced he'll be on their July 11 flight.

Bezos announced earlier this month that he and his brother would be heading to space on July 20 on Blue Origin's New Shepherd spacecraft.

If all goes according to plan, Branson will have him beat by just over a week.

"After more than 16 years of research, engineering, and testing, Virgin Galactic stands at the vanguard of a new commercial space industry, which is set to open space to humankind and change the world for good," Branson said in a statement.