British billionaire Richard Branson lastly acquired his journey to area on Sunday.

Virgin Galactic’s spaceplane, the VSS Unity, landed safely in New Mexico after hovering greater than 50 miles above floor (80.4 kilometers) in its extremely anticipated first totally crewed check flight. You can try a recording of the livestreamed occasion on the corporate’s YouTube channel.

“We’re here to make space more accessible to all,” the Virgin Galactic founder mentioned shortly after the flight touched down. “If you ever had a dream, now is the time to make it come true. I’d like to end by saying welcome to the dawn of a new space age.”

The launch started at 10:30 a.m. ET, a 90-minute delay from its initially scheduled time because of strong winds the night time earlier than that interfered with floor operations. Virgin Galactic’s provider plane VMS Eve (named for Branson’s late mom) hauled the VSS Unity as much as its high-altitude launch level at round 50,000 toes (15,240 meters). After separating, the spaceplane ignited its personal hybrid rocket motor and soared to an altitude of 53.5 miles (86.1 kilometers) earlier than gliding again all the way down to a runway touchdown at Spaceport America, Virgin Galactic mentioned in a news release.

At the highest of its flight path, the crew, which included two pilots and three mission specialists alongside Branson, skilled a couple of minutes of weightlessness.

“I was once a child with a dream looking up to the stars,” mentioned Branson in the course of the broadcast as his crewmates might be seen floating behind him and celebrating. “Now I’m an adult in a spaceship… looking down to our beautiful, beautiful Earth. To the next generation of dreamers: If we can do this, just imagine what you can do.”

The roughly hour-long flight marks an enormous milestone for Virgin Galactic, which goals to start business operations as early as subsequent yr. Other billionaire aspiring astronauts shared within the pleasure. Branson snapped a photo with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk forward of Sunday’s launch, who has already bought a ticket for his personal journey to area aboard Virgin Galactic’s airplane. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who is about to make his first journey to area aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket on July 20, congratulated Branson and co. on Instagram for the profitable flight, including: “Can’t wait to join the club!”

Virgin Galactic can also be providing an opportunity for anybody to win a visit aboard its spaceplane as properly. After coming again all the way down to Earth on Sunday, Branson introduced a partnership with charity fundraising platform Omaze to open a sweepstakes that can ship the winner and one visitor to area on the VSS Unity free of charge. If you have been to attempt to purchase tickets for a similar flight, it’d price you about half one million {dollars} since they’re going for roughly $250,000 a pop. The winner can even obtain a tour of Spaceport America led by Branson himself. The sweepstakes, which runs till September 1, will elevate cash for Space for Humanity, a nonprofit working to democratize area journey.