Virgin Galactic took off at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert along with six members of crew including an 80-year-old who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mum and daughter pair from the Caribbean
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic has successfully blasted off into space as the first tourist flight departed New Mexico following years of delay.
Six members of crew launched into space aboard the VSS Unity spaceplane along with a British 80-year-old who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mum and daughter pair from the Caribbean.
Thousands tuned in to watch the launch, along with the hundreds who travelled to see it in person as the flight marked Virgin Galactic’s third this year. The total flight time will be around 90 minutes. Amazing live pictures of the flight have been released.
Following the successful launch, Branson’s company will begin offering monthly trip to customers on its space plane, joining Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin in the space tourism industry.