Prince William Blasts Space Tourism, Urges Billionaires to First Repair Earth

Prince William has some harsh words for the Elon Musks, Jeff Bezos' and Richard Bransons of the world ... focus on fixing this planet instead of exploring what else is out there.

The Duke of Cambridge blasted the so-called "billionaire's space race" and space tourism while speaking to BBC Newscast on the same day William Shatner made history by becoming the oldest person ever to go to space.

You can hear the disdain in William's voice while he also pleas with the sharpest minds to allocate their brains and resources to repair planet Earth. He said, "We need some of the world’s greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live."

It goes without saying ... William, whose Earthshot Prize will award roughly $70m over the next decade to those focused on saving this planet, says he has ZERO interest in taking part in space tourism. In fact ... he tells the interviewer how high he's been as a former pilot himself, and that was good enough for him.

William's shot at space tourism came on the day Captain Kirk and 3 other crew members hopped on Blue Origin's New Shepard capsule and successfully blasted off into space.

The crew experienced 4 minutes of weightlessness before parachuting back down to Earth. Shatner told Bezos it was "the most profound experience" of his life.