Sir Richard Branson was present to witness the first ever solo test flight of Enterprise, Virgin Galactic’s commercial spaceship. A carrier plane took Enterprise to an altitude of 45,000 feet from where it was released and safely managed to glide back to earth. The test flight took place above California’s Mojave Air and Space Port, from where passengers will soon be able to hitch a ride into space.

Sir Richard described the test flight as one of Virgin’s most exciting achievements. He added that it was a great moment when the spaceship came into land. Virgin Galactic hopes to be the first ever company to offer commercial services for those wishing to experience weightlessness on the very edge of space. Virgin has already received deposits from 370 customers willing to pay the £126,000 it will cost to take the trip.

The design of Enterprise is based on SpaceShipOne, which in 2004 managed to successfully complete two flights at an altitude of 60 miles above the earth’s surface. Enterprise, and its carrier plane Eve, has already made a number of successful test flights, but never at the altitude achieved on Sunday.

The next step is to test Enterprise’s rocket engine. This will be used to propel the craft into space. When it is ready to carry passengers, the space ship will have room for two pilots and six guests. The ship is being constructed by Mojave’s Scaled Composites.

Sunday’s flight was piloted by Mike Alsbury and Pete Siebold. The trip back to earth took around 25 minutes.