Billionaire Richard Branson and five Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. employees successfully completed a key test flight to space, bolstering the company’s plans to debut tourism trips next year.
Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity space plane landed in New Mexico at about 9:38 a.m. local time, approximately an hour after it took off attached to a carrier plane. After separating from the carrier, the vehicle rocketed to an altitude of about 282,000 feet, or more than 53 miles (86 kilometers) above the Earth. The Unity then glided back to the runway, according to Bloomberg.
The suborbital journey kicks off a landmark month for the future of space tourism, with Branson looking to demonstrate Virgin Galactic’s capabilities nine days before Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos plans to fly on a rocket made by Blue Origin, his space venture. Both companies envision businesses catering to wealthy tourists willing to pay top dollar for a short period of weightlessness and an unforgettable view of the Earth and heavens.
It wasn’t immediately clear how long Branson, 70, and his fellow crewmembers experienced weightlessness. After reaching its highest altitude, the Unity pivoted in space and returned to the Spaceport America complex near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
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