With a throng of reporters and a global audience following along on YouTube and across Virgin's social media channels, the Virgin mothership VMS Eve slowly climbed to an altitude of about 45,000 feet and then, after a final round of safety checks, released Unity high above the New Mexico desert. Joining the globe-trotting billionaire aboard Unity were pilots David Mackay and Michael Masucci, along with Virgin astronaut trainer Beth Moses, flight engineer Colin Bennett and Sirisha Bandla, the company's vice president of government relations. The Virgin Galactic carrier plane, carrying the VSS Unity spaceplane Unity, took off at Spaceport America, near Truth and Consequences, New Mexico, on July 11, 2021, with a crew of 6 including billionaire owner Richard Branson. Branson's trip began in dramatic fashion as Virgin's twin-fuselage carrier jet - with the VSS Unity rocket-powered spaceplane bolted under its wing - lifted away from the company's Spaceport America launch site near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, at 8:40 a.m.

Virgin galactic spaceship