Billionaire Richard Branson has successfully reached the edge of space on Sunday during a test flight for his space tourism company Virgin Galactic.
Branson launched on Sunday with three of the company’s employees from the desert in New Mexico at about 10:38 a.m. He flew more than 50 miles above the earth before landing safely back on the ground at about 11:40 a.m.
The onboard video showed Branson looking out the window with the earth behind him and crew members floating around in weightlessness. The crew members were Beth Moses, Sirisha Bandla, and Colin Bennett, all Virgin Galactic employees. Everyone is all smiles as they float back and forth.
"To all you kids down there…" – @RichardBranson's message from zero gravity. #Unity22
Watch the livestream: https://t.co/5UalYT7Hjb pic.twitter.com/lYXHNsDQcU
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) July 11, 2021
“I have dreamt about this moment since I was a child, but going to space was more magical than I ever imagined,” Branson tweeted after returning to earth.
I have dreamt about this moment since I was a child, but going to space was more magical than I ever imagined https://t.co/Wyzj0nOBgX #Unity22 @virgingalactic pic.twitter.com/grs7vHAzca
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) July 11, 2021
This is Virgin’s only fourth test flight of the rocket that launched into space.
Virginia Galactic plans on carrying out one more test flight before it begins flying customers. So far, more than 600 people have reserved tickets to fly at a price tag between $200,000 and $250,000 a pop.
Branson’s flight comes just nine days before Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is scheduled to launch into space on his own spacecraft.
