MOJAVE, CALIFORNIA ¨C A Virgin Galactic rocket plane reached space on Thursday and returned safely to the California desert, capping years of testing to become the first U.S. commercial human flight to breach Earth¡¯s atmosphere since America¡¯s shuttle program ended in 2011.
The successful test flight presages a new era of civilian space travel that could kick off as soon as next year, with Richard Branson¡¯s Virgin Galactic battling billionaire-backed ventures such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos¡¯ Blue Origin to be the first to offer suborbital flights to fare-paying tourists.
Branson, who personally put up $1 billion toward the $1.3 billion development costs for Virgin¡¯s space businesses, said he viewed competition with Bezos and others as a race, though passenger safety is the top priority.
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