Richard Branson has returned to Earth after successfully being taken to the edge of space in his own Virgin Galactic rocket.
Per BBC News, the billionaire made history on Sunday, July 11, after reaching the edge of space high above New Mexico in a craft that his company has been developing over the last 17 years.
Though it was a test flight, the achievement marks a huge step forward for commercial space travel.
The full live stream of the flight can be seen below:The 70-year-old described the trip as the "experience of a lifetime".
Named 'Unity', the rocket place is believed to have reached an estimated height of 282,000ft (53 miles), although, the company is yet to confirm this.
Branson can be seen with his crew in the photograph below:
From left to right; Chief pilot Dave Mackay, lead operations engineer Colin Bennett, chief astronaut instructor Beth Moses, founder of Virgin Galactic Sir Richard Branson, vice president of government affairs and research operations Sirisha Bandla, and pilot Michael Masucci.
Per NBC News, the English entrepreneur beat fellow businessmen Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in the "race to space", with Bezos planning a similar feat on July 20 with his company, Blue Origin.
The outlet adds that Branson's Virgin Galactic hopes to be accepting paying members of the public by 2022, with BBC News adding that some 600 individuals have already reserved their seats, paying a deposit for a ticket that will cost them up to $250,000.
The flights are believed to offer passengers the opportunity to see the sky turn to the blackness of space, and provide roughly five minutes of weightlessness, BBC reports.
Per NBC News, Sunday's flight was a suborbital jaunt - meaning Unity did not reach orbit and circle the Earth, but instead flew to the edge of space.
Unity took off at around 10:30AM ET from Spaceport America, which is located in a desolate stretch of desert in New Mexico. However, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Unity craft is reportedly designed so it can take off from a conventional runway.
The SpaceShipTwo Unity craft will be secured to the underbelly of another craft - a carrier ship named WhiteKnightTwo - which will fly to an altitude of 50,000 feet, before WhiteKnightTwo releases Unity.
Unity's engines subsequently ignite and propel the craft to the edge of space.
So I guess the big question is this: If you had the money, would you book a ticket on Branson's rocket plane?
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