Virgin Galactic launches it’s first commercial flight to space

Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic launched its first commercial space flight Thursday, sending three Italian researchers, two company pilots and an astronaut trainer on a high-speed thrill ride to the edge of space aboard a winged rocketplane. Cheered on by Virgin employees, family members and friends gathered at Spaceport America in New Mexico, the twin-fuselage VMS Eve carrier jet took off at 10:30 a.m. EDT, carrying the company’s VSS Unity spaceplane and its six passengers up to an altitude of about 44,500 feet. More

(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 30)