Hyperdrive

Virgin Galactic Reaches Space in Overdue Commercial Debut

Company sends paying passengers on research mission to space
CEO says normalizing space travel likely to take decades

Richard Branson speaks during an interview at the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 28, 2019.Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Loren Grush

June 29, 2023 at 10:00 AM UTC

Updated on

June 29, 2023 at 9:32 PM UTC

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. sent paying customers to the edge of space for the first time, a milestone for the Richard Branson-founded company almost two decades in the making.

The VSS Unity craft reached space at about 9:30 a.m. local time in New Mexico, Virgin Galactic revealed in a livestream of the event on its website Thursday. That was about an hour after the flight took off, carrying six people on board, including researchers from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy.