Successful operation.
He had always dreamed of it and had founded his own company 17 years ago to make it happen.
Billionaire Richard Branson flew into space on Sunday and returned to earth safely.
The Virgin Galactic spacecraft took off from New Mexico, in the United States rose 90 kilometers into the sky before remaining a few minutes in space.
The VSS Unity spacecraft, which also carried two pilots and three other passengers, touched down on a runway at Spaceport America at approximately 10:40 a.m. local time (4:40 p.m. GMT).
Richard Branson who, still aboard the ship descending to earth, described a "once in a lifetime experience", is the first billionaire to have made the trip in a craft developed by a company he himself founded, defeating Jeff Bezos who is due to rob him on July 20.
A few minutes in zero gravity
The machine is not a “classic” rocket: a huge carrier plane, driven by two pilots, took off from a traditional runway and gained altitude for about fifty minutes.
Below this plane hung the VSS Unity spacecraft - an example of the SpaceShipTwo model.
At some 15 kilometers altitude, the vessel, which is about the size of a private jet, was jettisoned and fired its engine for a supersonic ascent, to exceed 80 km in altitude - the limit. set in the United States for the space border.
Once the engine was off, the passengers were able to detach themselves from their seats to float for a few minutes in zero gravity, and admire the curvature of the Earth from one of the cabin's 12 portholes.
After a peak at about 90 km altitude, the ship came down again while hovering.
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Virgin Galactic commercial flights are expected to begin in 2022. 600 tickets at more than 200,000 euros each have already been sold by the company.
