Richard Branson has reached the edge of space and returned safely to Earth, marking a turning point in the diversified efforts of billionaire entrepreneurs to help create an aerospace tourism industry.

The space trip that Mr. Branson and five other crew members completed Sunday morning on a Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. rocket plane lends credence to the company’s ability to safely take passengers to and from space.


Virgin Galactic, founded by Branson, plans to initiate commercial service next year, charging passengers hundreds of thousands of dollars per such flight. The test aims to evaluate the experience of aircraft systems and passengers and to provide additional verification of its safety. Vehicles built by private aerospace companies have been tested many times compared to aircraft used by airlines.


The British entrepreneur and five crew members crossed one threshold of space, climbing 53.5 miles above the Earth’s surface.

At the height of the VSS Unity's 15 - minute voyage, detached from the launch aircraft the crew moved away from their seats and enjoyed the weightlessness, peering into the earth and into space through a dozen windows in the cabin.


Branson's flight — which came just nine days before Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos is slated to rocket into suborbital space aboard his own company's spacecraft — is a landmark moment for the commercial space industry. The up-and-coming sector has for years been seeking to make suborbital space tourism (a relatively simple straight-up-and-down flight, as opposed to orbiting the Earth for longer periods) a viable business with the aim of allowing thousands of people to experience the adrenaline rush and sweeping views of our home planet that such flights can offer.