Richard Branson set to launch into space on Virgin Galactic spaceship

© Virgin Galactic via AP, FILE

Billionaire Sir Richard Bransonlaunched to the edge of space Sunday in the first fully crewed flight from his private space tourism firm Virgin Galactic.

The so-called Unity 22 mission lifted off from New Mexico about 10:38 a.m. Eastern Time attached to its “mothership” aircraft VMS Eve and just after 11 a.m. reached an altitude of 46,000 feet, which is higher than commercial airlines fly.

Branson, 70, is serving as a mission specialist on the flight, the fourth crewed spaceflight for Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spacecraft. Unity is launched from a separate Eve that takes off and is expected to be released at an altitude of approximately 50,000 feet.

© Andres Leighton/AP Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson waves good bye while heading to board the rocket plane that will fly him to space from Spaceport America near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, July 11, 2021.

The launch occurred New Mexico’s Spaceport America, and live coverage commenced at 10:30 AM ET (7:30 AM PT; 8:30 AM MT) on Sunday on Virgin Galactic’s website and social media pages.

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At 10:38 AM ET, Virgin Galactic started down the runway.

On Sunday morning, Branson tweeted that he was “feeling good, feeling excited” and ready for this morning’s launch, along with a picture of himself with SpaceX founder Elon Musk.

The billionaire rode his bike Sunday morning to the launch area, Spaceport America in New Mexico.

© Virgin Galactic via AP, FILE This image provided by Virgin Galactic shows the crew of Sunday’s Unity 22 mission, from left, Dave Mackay, Colin Bennett, Beth Moses, Richard Branson, Sirisha Bandla and Michael Masucci.

The crew consists of fellow Virgin Galactic staff: Beth Moses, chief astronaut instructor; Colin Bennet, lead operations engineer; and Sirisha Bandla, vice president of government affairs and research operations.

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Pilots Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci will fly the spaceship, with C.J. Sturckow and Kelly Latimer flying the aircraft from which the spaceship will dispatch.

Branson’s role is to evaluate the private astronaut experience to prepare for future customers, which Virgin Galactic expects to do beginning in 2022.

© Handout/Virgin Galactic/AFP via Getty Images In this handout photo provided by Virgin Galactic on Oct. 15, 2021, Virgin Galactic spaceship seats rotated back in space. ‘Space belongs to all of us’: Branson

Virgin Galactic has taken heat from critics, including the Twitter account of competitor Blue Origin, for stretching the definition of “space” as its flights do not go above the Karman line (62 miles above Earth) that is defined by many — but not all — as the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space.

“I truly believe that space belongs to all of us,” Branson said in a statement earlier this month announcing his spaceflight. “After 17 years of research, engineering and innovation, the new commercial space industry is poised to open the universe to humankind and change the world for good.”

Branson’s spaceflight comes just nine days ahead of when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said he will launch into space via his own firm, Blue Origin.