The first space tourists carried by US company Virgin Galactic arrived in space on Thursday, the company founded by billionaire Richard Branson announced, thus fulfilling a promise made two decades ago, AFP reported.

The three passengers — John Goodwin, 80, Keisha Shahaff, 46, and her 18-year-old daughter Anastasia Myers — spent a few minutes in space admiring the curvature of the Earth and briefly floating in zero gravity, according to a video broadcast by the company.

Aboard VSS Unity, they were accompanied by a Virgin Galactic staff member assigned oversight and two pilots.

The mission, called Galactic 02, is the company’s second commercial flight after the first flight in late June.

The flight carried senior Italian Air Force officers who were carrying out a series of experiments on board, not civilians traveling for pleasure.

Before that, the company conducted several test flights, including one with Richard Branson himself in July 2021. In total, Thursday was the seventh exit of a spacecraft into space.

The huge jumbo jet first took off from a conventional runway in New Mexico and then, after a period of climb, launched a craft that resembles a large private jet.

The spacecraft then ignited its engine and accelerated vertically until it passed an altitude of 80 km, the limit that the US military believes marks the beginning of space. The spacecraft rose to an apogee to a height of 88 km, the commentator said during a live video broadcast.

He then quickly began a glider descent before landing on the same runway.

800 customers in line

Keisha Shahaff and her daughter Anastasia Myers, from Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean, won their ticket by attending a fundraising event organized by Virgin Galactic.

The happy news was delivered to Keisha Shahaff by Richard Branson himself, who surprised her by coming to her home to present her with an astronaut suit.

The third passenger, British John Goodwin, participated in the 1972 Olympics.

He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2014, and he will become the second person with the disease to travel to space. However, at the age of 80, he will not be the oldest – this record belongs to William Shatner, he is 90 years old.

According to Virgin Galactic, which promises one space flight to the moon, fewer than 700 people have been in space to date.

About 800 customers bought tickets – initially from 200,000 to 250,000 dollars per passenger, and then increased to 450,000 dollars.

Virgin Galactic’s space program was delayed for several years due to an accident in 2014 that killed the pilot.

Virgin Galactic competes with billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, which also offers short suborbital flights and has already sent 31 people into space.

But after an accident in September 2022 during an unmanned flight, his rocket was grounded. In March, Blue Origin promised it would resume spaceflight “soon.” (photo: Steve Mann | Dreamstime.com)