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Virgin Galactic’s Unity-22 spacecraft with 70-year-old billionaire Richard Branson on board reached the Karman Line – the boundary of the earth’s atmosphere and space at an altitude of about 100 kilometers, and after staying there for several minutes, landed at Spaceport America. This was announced by the host of a live broadcast of the flight on the Virgin Galactic website.
The spacecraft separated from the Eve carrier aircraft at an altitude of 15 kilometers, after which it turned on its own jet engine.
The device stayed in space for several minutes, after which it began its descent back to Earth.
Along with Branson, there were five people in the spacecraft – test pilots Dave Makai and Michael Mazucci, Sirisha Bundle’s research officer, Colin Bennett, the company’s lead engineer, and Beth Moses, the head of the astronaut training program.
Branson’s competitor, Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos, is scheduled to fly on July 20 on the New Shepard.
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