(NEXSTAR)-Richard Branson became the first billionaire businessman to fly to space, at least as far as the United States and its definition of “space” are concerned.

After launching from the Truth or Consequences of New Mexico on Sunday morning, Branson successfully rocketed to an altitude of about 282,000 feet or more than 53 miles on the Virgin Galactic space plane. But some people — including Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Space Company — claim that space begins at 62 miles.

Branson will turn 71 next week, and he only recently announced his participation in Sunday’s launch event, which predates Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s launch into space Blue Origin’s first manned space flight July 20.However, Branson claimed that he did not consider similar space missions to be some kind of “race” between the two billionaires, he told “Good morning America.”

But even if this is not a “race”, Blue Origin questioned whether Branson’s rocket would actually go into space.

NASA, And the U.S. Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), it is currently believed that “space” starts 50 miles above the earth-this is the threshold for Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity to soar on Sunday. But on July 20, Bezos and his crew intend to fly over the Carmen Line, which is defined as approximately 62 miles (or 100 kilometers) from the Earth.

The Carmen Line is also recognized as the boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and space by the Swiss management agency and record-keeping organization International Aviation Federation.

Blue Origin and its CEO Bob Smith have announced that their spacecraft, the New Shepard, will cross this border on July 20.

Smith told CNBC in a statement issued last week: “We hope that his flight will be pleasant and safe, but they did not fly over the Carmen line. This is a very different experience.”

On social media, Blue Origin further suggested that Virgin Galactic astronauts need to add an “asterisk” next to their name after flying in VSS Unity.

The company wrote on Twitter: “From the very beginning, New Shepard was designed to fly over the Carmen Line, so there is no asterisk next to our astronaut’s name.” “For 96% of the world’s population, space begins in The internationally recognized Carmen line over 100 kilometers.”

Only 4% of people in the world consider the lower limit of 80 kilometers or 50 miles as the beginning of space. New Shepard flew over these two borders. One of the many benefits of flying Blue Origin. pic.twitter.com/4EAzMfCmYT

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 9, 2021

It is worth noting that there is no accepted global definition of the boundary of the beginning of space.according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a spacecraft must be 600 miles above the Earth to completely escape the Earth’s atmosphere-which means that the International Space Station (operating between 205 and 270 miles) will not even be considered to be in “space”.

Terminology aside, Blue Origin and its founder Jeff Bezos (Jeff Bezos) Both Good luck to Branson before VSS Unity leaves New Mexico.

“I wish you and the whole team a successful flight tomorrow,” Bezos wrote On Instagram, Next to Branson’s photo.