Richard Branson makes successful first Virgin Galactic flight to Edge of Space and back and offers a chance for YOU to go along for a Ride

Billionaire entrepreneur and adventurer Richard Branson’s dream of space travel was realized and celestial tourism took a leap forward Sunday as Virgin Galactic’s rocket ship reached the edge of space during a historic flight from Spaceport America. Branson and his crew experienced about four minutes of weightlessness before their space plane smoothly glided to a runway landing. The entire trip, delayed 90 minutes because of bad weather the previous night, lasted about an hour.

An ecstatic Branson hugged family and friends who greeted him after landing. “It was just magical,” Branson said. “It’s 17 years of painstaking work, the occasional horrible down and large ups with it. And today was definitely the biggest up.”

Branson, who turns 71 this week, and a crew of two pilots and three mission specialists were carried to an altitude of more than eight miles by the aircraft VMS Eve, named after Branson’s mother. Live video then showed the space plane VSS Unity release from between the mother ship’s twin fuselages, using rocket power to fly to the boundary of space, more than 50 miles above the Earth. Ever the showman, Branson collaborated with The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert to host Virgin Galactic’s livestream of the event. R&B singer-songwriter Khalid performed his new song “New Normal” on stage after Branson and his entourage returned to Earth.

Branson, a brash, charismatic London native who founded Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984 and Virgin Galactic 20 years later, had planned the flight for later this summer. He moved it up after competitor Blue Origin and its founder, Jeff Bezos, announced plans to ride their rocket into space from West Texas on July 20.  Blue Origin, which in recent days has launched a social media campaign disparaging Virgin Galactic, decided to let bygones be bygones in the hours before the flight, tweeting: “Wishing you a great flight tomorrow @virgingalactic!”

Virgin Galactic has plans for two more test flights before commercial service is expected to begin in 2022. The company says more than 600 people already have signed up for flights at an estimated $250,000 per person. If that price tag is a tad beyond your budget, Branson has announced that Charity fundraising platform Omaze is giving away two tickets for one of the VSS Unity’s first commercial flights. The winner and one guest are set to be among the first everyday citizens to travel aboard a spacecraft. The sweepstakes are open through Aug. 31, and donations will support the nonprofit Space for Humanity, which aims to send citizen astronauts of diverse racial, economic and disciplinary backgrounds to space.

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Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com