Virgin Galactic successfully sends test pilots into space

Virgin Galactic has successfully sent its test pilots into space, marking a major milestone in the race for commercial space travel and sparking emotional scenes among those back down on Earth.

Sir Richard Branson, watching with his son Sam, admitted he shed more than a few tears as the space craft flew to 51.4 miles, or 271,268 feet.

Although the exact height of where space begins is debated, Nasa say it begins 50 miles above ground, and an official from the Federal Aviation Agency was on hand to welcome the two test pilots back to Earth, and invite them to Washington DC to receive their astronaut wings.

The flight marks the first time that man has reached space from US soil since the end of Nasa’s space shuttle programme, in 2011.

“This was the milestone that we’ve been aiming at for 14 years,” Sir Richard told The Telegraph. “It was the culmination of a lot of work.

“And obviously it’s just a joyous day.”

The team had gathered before dawn at the site, 100 miles north of Los Angeles in the Mojave desert. As the sun rose over the mountains the final checks were carried out. Shortly after 7am, with CJ  Sturckow, a four-time Nasa space shuttle pilot, and Mark “Forger” Stucky at the controls of the space ship VSS Unity, the mothership VMS Eve sped along the runway and into the skies.

For 43,000ft the two craft climbed, until after 45 minutes the VSS Unity was released from the mothership.

VSS Unity accelerated rapidly then turned to shoot almost vertically up into the sky, burning the rockets for 60 seconds and travelling at 2.9 times the speed of sound to reach the maximum height.

“Welcome to space,” announced Enrico Palermo, president of The Spaceship Company, which Sir Richard founded as a sister company to Virgin Galactic, to build the craft. “We made it to space.”

Cheers and whoops of joy burst out in the cold desert morning, with many of the engineers and team members in tears.

The ship then began its descent as everyone craned their necks up to the sky, waiting for a glimpse of the shimmering spacecraft returning to Earth.

“That was rather incredible,” said Mr Stucky, the co-pilot, beaming. “We simulate so many emergencies, we’re always reacting, but to get up there and shut off the engine and just go: ‘OK, we’re going to space…’”

He was particularly jubilant about a mid-air roll, which Sir Richard laughingly called a victory roll.

“Everything worked great,” continued Mr Stucky. “We would have been happy with a third of that.”

He then pulled a box out of his pocket, containing a ring. Brandon Parrish, a Virgin Galactic employee, got on stage and called his girlfriend Veronica McGowan – who also works for the company – to join him. On bended knee, with a beaming Sir Richard behind him, he asked her to marry him  - the two test pilots then spraying champagne on the crowd as she said yes.

“Our test pilots are incredibly brave people,” said Sir Richard, who praised “the massive team that has created the spaceship to go into space, for myself and thousands of people like me.”

Virgin Galactic is yet to set a date for its first commercial passengers, but it is expected to be some time next year. The team plan on three more test flights at the Mojave site, before moving down to New Mexico to base themselves at their spaceport there, where passengers will eventually depart.

Over 700 people have signed up so far, paying $250,000 (£192,000) for the privilege – among them Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Bieber.

“The market for space travel is gigantic,” said Sir Richard. “The price will go up a little bit in the short term, and then in the next three years it will come down. And the more space craft we build, the lower the price will become.”

The flight yesterday was the first one to generate revenue, as Nasa paid Virgin Galactic to carry payloads – scientific equipment to take data for their team.

He pointed out that they had rejected investment from Saudi Arabia, following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but was hopeful that the success of this flight would encourage more investors.

“Space is not cheap,” he said. “I’ve personally invested a  billion dollars in this. Having our first money come back is a good feeling. We have to make this a profitable venture, and I think we can do that.”