Sir Richard Branson’s rocket company Virgin Galactic has successfully launched its first paying customers towards space.

A plane carrying the space company’s VSS Unity rocket took off from the New Mexico desert for its “Galactic 01” mission after nearly two decades of preparation.

The operation started around 4pm BST, or 11am local time. Virgin Galactic’s mothership VSS Eve flew to around 45,000 ft before dropping its space plane, VSS Unity, which has then blasted towards space.

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