The VSS Unity spacecraft with Richard Branson on board has successfully landed

Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity spacecraft has successfully landed after its first passenger flight into space. There were six people on board, including the founder of the company, Richard Branson. The event was broadcast live on the official website of Virgin Galactic.

Initially, the launch was scheduled for 16:00 Moscow time, but the launch was delayed by an hour and a half due to weather conditions. The ship was launched from a "spaceport" in New Mexico. On board, in addition to Branson, were pilots Dave McKay and Michael Masucci, as well as Virgin Galactic Chief Astronaut Instructor Beth Moses, Senior Operations Engineer Colin Bennett and Vice President of Government Affairs Sirisha Bundle.

First, the rocket plane was raised to a height of 15 km by the carrier ship VMS Eve. After Eve dropped Unity, the ship fired up its own rocket engine and traveled into suborbital space, reaching an altitude of 86 km. Thus, the ship exceeded the space limit adopted by the US Air Force - 80 km.

The crew spent several minutes in zero gravity, after which the spacecraft began to land and landed at the America cosmodrome at 18:38 Moscow time. The whole flight took about an hour in total.

Richard Branson fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming the first billionaire to go into space, ahead of his main competitor, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. His flight will take place on July 20.

“My mission is to make the dream of space travel a reality. For my grandchildren, for your grandchildren, for each and every one,” Richard Branson, 70, said in a video message recorded before the flight.

Early next year, Virgin Galactic plans to start taking tourists into space for money. 600 people have already bought tickets for suborbital flights for $200-250 thousand per person.

Find out more

The billionaires' "space race" is a race to prove that their companies are finally safe for the commercial flights that open up space as a tourist destination. Read more about the business prospects for the Branson project and all space suborbital tourism here . And here you can learn about the history of billionaire Richard Branson and his path to conquering space.