Virgin Galactic rocket reaches new milestone

VIRGIN Galactic’s tourism spaceship climbed more than 80km high above California’s Mojave Desert on Thursday, reaching for the first time what the company considers the boundary of space.

The rocket ship hit an altitude of 82km before beginning its gliding descent, said mission official Enrico Palermo. It landed on a runway minutes later.

“We made it said.

Thursday’s supersonic flight takes Virgin Galactic closer to turning the long-delayed dream of commercial space tourism into reality.

The company aims to take paying customers on the six-passenger rocket, which is about the size of an executive jet. Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson said he wants to be one of the first on board.

Branson greeted the two pilots after the test, declaring “Space is Virgin territory!” Virgin Galactic considers 80km the boundary of space because that is the distance used by the US Air Force and other US agencies. That’s different from a long-held view that the boundary is at 100km.

Virgin Galactic chief executive George Whitesides said recent research favoured the lower altitude.

Whitesides said a review of the flight’s data will last into the new year, and there will be more test flights, some with company employees as passengers. He wouldn’t estimate when commercial passenger trips might begin. | to space!” Palermo