NEW MEXICO (AP)-Thrill-seeking billionaire Richard Branson makes a successful flight into space on his Virgin Galactic spacecraft, in a signature moment for the potential of commercial space flight.
71-year-old Branson also announced a partnership with Omaze to hold an online raffle for two seats on a Virgin Galactic space flight and a tour of Spaceport America.
Fellow billionaire and rival Jeff Bezos, will try to replicate the endeavor when he takes flight in his blue origin craft in nine days.
Branson and five crewmates from his Virgin Galactic space tourism company reached an altitude of about 53 miles (88 kilometers) over the New Mexico desert – enough to experience three to four minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of the Earth – and then safely glided back home to a runway landing.
