VIDEO: Billionaire Richard Branson flew into space and successfully returned to Earth
British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson flew into space. The billionaire said earlier that he wants to assess the experience before making it available to others, ie customers who pay to travel to space, next year.
Benson reached the edge of space. He flew in a rocket plane and in an hour and a half reached the height that separates the Earth from space, and the blue sky is replaced by the black space.
The rocket of his "Virgin Galaxy", in the mission of an hour and a half, was to leave over New Mexico around 8:30 local time. However, due to bad weather, the flight was briefly delayed.
At an altitude of about 90 km, he and the crew members spent several minutes in weightlessness. Then they returned to Earth, on the same track from which they set off.
The billionaire made history. Branson's flight is pioneering, and he presented this mission to the public as a precursor to a new era of space tourism.
In a video address from space, Branson said that his life dream had come true and that this was a historic day for humanity.
It took Branson a long time to get to this stage.
He first discovered in 2004 that he intended to build a rocket plane. He then estimated that these flights could become commercial by 2007.
However, due to technical problems, as well as the fatal accident of the 2014 development flight, this project became one of the biggest challenges in Branson's career.