and go Richard Branson With three other passengers and two pilots to spend a few minutes in space, on a journey that will encourage emerging space tourism.
The aircraft took off from the spaceport base at approximately 08:40 local time (1440 GMT) America in the state of New Mexico.
The plane flew for about 50 minutes before leaving the vehicle beneath it, which would run its engine until it reached space. The plane later landed quite successfully.
Branson has promoted the mission as the start of a new era of space tourism, as the company he founded prepares to begin commercial operations next year.
The launch of the Unity VSS high-altitude missile aircraft on Sunday is the 22nd test flight of the company’s SpaceShipTwo Systems and its fourth manned mission outside Earth’s atmosphere. It is also the first flight to carry an entire group of astronauts, two pilots and four professionals, including Branson.
Although the mission is seen as a potential milestone to help turn civilian space travel into a big business, space flight remains fraught with danger.
“”Virgin GalacticGaining permission from the Federal Aviation Administration last month to begin flying with customers, each time with a simple crew, to go to space for the first time in 2018, repeating that feat in 2019 and then last May, each time.
Amazon giant Jeff Bezos is set to travel to space later this month.
Freelance twitter maven. Infuriatingly humble coffee aficionado. Amateur gamer. Typical beer fan. Avid music scholar. Alcohol nerd.
