Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson and five crewmates today soared to space and returned safely aboard a rocket plane, according to a Reuters report.

AP earlier reported that a crowd of more than 500 people had watched the twin-fuselage aircraft with Branson's space plane attached underneath taking off.

#UPDATE | Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson and five crewmates soar to space and return safely aboard rocket plane: Reuters

— ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2021

Aboard the spacecraft were Branson and five crewmates from his Virgin Galactic space-tourism company. According to the AP report, the plan was for the space plane to detach from the mother ship at an altitude of nearly 8 miles (13 km), fire its rocket engine and then pierce the edge of space at about 55 miles (88 km) up. After a few minutes of weightlessness for the crew, the space plane was supposed to glide to a runway landing.

The flight was intended as a confidence-boosting plug for Virgin Galactic, which plans to start taking paying customers on joyrides next year, the report said. It's a beautiful day to go to space, Branson tweeted in the morning, posting a photo of himself with fellow billionaire and space-tourism rival Elon Musk.

It’s a beautiful day to go to space. We’ve arrived at @Spaceport_NM. Get ready to watch LIVE at 7:30 am PT | 10:30 am ET | 3:30 pm BST https://t.co/PcvGTmA661 #Unity22 pic.twitter.com/4KjGPpjz0M

— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) July 11, 2021

More than 600 people have already made reservations for a ride into space with Virgin Galactic, founded in 2004, the report said.

Bezos' Blue Origin has yet to open ticket sales or even announce prices. Unlike Blue Origin and Musk's SpaceX both launch capsules atop rockets.

Big day ahead. Great to start the morning with a friend. Feeling good, feeling excited, feeling ready.

Watch #Unity22 launch and livestream TODAY at 7:30 am PT | 10:30 am ET | 3:30 pm BST.@virgingalactic @elonmusk https://t.co/1313b4RAKI pic.twitter.com/FRQqrQEbH8— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) July 11, 2021

According to the AP report, Virgin Galactic made three previous test flights into space with a crew.

-With agency inputs

First Published:Jul 11, 2021 9:12 PM IST