The aircraft took off from Spaceport America in the US state of New Mexico on Thursday with two pilots at the helm and four passengers.
About one hour into the 72-minute trip, the carrier plane released VSS Unity, the rocket aircraft, to allow it to start its motor and thrust to its altitude of up to 85 kilometres. "Welcome to space, astronauts," Sirisha Bandla, Virgin Galactic's vice-president of government affairs and research operations said to the excited crew.A livestream shot of Unity igniting its rocket engine and boosting its way up to its peak altitude of about 80 kilometres from the Earth. Picture: Virgin Galatic
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