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.