Billionaire Branson completes historic space flight

"There's Sir Richard Branson now!"

British billionaire Richard Branson on Sunday soared to the edge of space in a historic flight on his Virgin Galactic rocket plane, and safely returned, in the vehicle’s first fully crewed test flight, a symbolic milestone for a venture he started 17 years ago.

Space industry executives, future customers and other well-wishers watched the livestreamed flight in suspense, a spectacle Branson touted as a precursor to a new era of space tourism.

Reaching its high-altitude launch point at about 46,000 feet, the VSS Unity passenger rocket plane was released from its mothership, sending it streaking upward at supersonic speed some 53 miles high.

At the apex of the climb, the crew of six then experienced a few minutes of almost no gravity, before the spaceplane shifted into re-entry mode, and began a gliding descent to a runway in the New Mexico desert. The entire flight, from takeoff to landing, lasted about an hour.

"I have dreamt of this moment since I was a kid and honestly, nothing could prepare you for the view of Earth from space. I mean, the whole thing, it was just magical."

The success of the flight also gave the flamboyant entrepreneur bragging rights in a highly publicized rivalry with fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos, who had hoped to fly into space first aboard his own Blue Origin rocket.

Bezos congratulated Branson in a social media post, and a third player in the billionaire space race, Elon Musk, was on hand to watch Branson’s flight.

Musk’s SpaceX plans to send its first all-civilian crew - without Musk - into orbit in September.

Virgin has said it plans at least two further test flights in the months ahead before beginning regular commercial operation in 2022.

Several hundred wealthy would-be citizen astronauts have already booked reservations, priced at around $250,000 per ticket.