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Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic reaches space again in successful flight

Self-proclaimed “world’s commercial spaceline” hopes to fly tourists as soon as this year.

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February 22, 2019 at 12:13 p.m. EST
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo accelerated to Mach 3.0 on its way to space, Feb. 22. Richard Branson’s “world’s commercial spaceline” hopes to fly tourists as s (Video: Virgin Galactic)

Virgin Galactic flew its space plane past the edge of space Friday morning on its quest to eventually fly paying passengers there, a milestone that company founder Richard Branson said could come as early as this year.

The flight came two months after Virgin Galactic hit an altitude of 51.4 miles, reaching space for the first time, a historic milestone for which its pilots were awarded astronaut wings by the Federal Aviation Administration.