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The Wings program began in 2004, and in those 17 years a total of 24 people received them: from 2004 to 2014, this honor was given to pilot pilots of Scaled Composites, the company that eventually manufactured the Branson spacecraft and was backed by the late Microsoft founder Paul Allen ; In 2018 they were joined by Branson’s Virgin Galactic pilots, and last July Branson himself – a total of 8 people who became astronauts within the company; And four members of SpaceX’s Inspiration4 flight, owned by developer Elon Musk. Will never get astronaut wings.