A Virgin Galactic rocket plane blasted to the edge of space on Thursday, capping off years of difficult testing to become the first US commercial human flight to reach space since America’s shuttle program ended in 2011.The test flight foreshadows a civilian space race that could kick off as soon as next year, with the British billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic battling other billionaire-backed ventures to be the first to offer suborbital flights to tourists who pony up the hefty fares.
Virgin’s airplane-like SpaceShipTwo took off on Thursday morning from California’s Mojave air and space port, about 90 miles (145km) north of Los Angeles.
Richard Branson, wearing a leather bomber jacket with a fur collar, attended the takeoff along with hundreds of spectators on a crisp morning in the California desert.
After the rocket plane topped 50-mile altitude – reaching what some agencies consider the edge of space – a crying Branson high-fived and hugged spectators.
“Take off! WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo have taken to the skies,” Branson said on Twitter….