An ambitious space tourism project of Sir Richard Branson Virgin Galactic has sent space ship in to the space for the first time.

The effort is a major initiative  to bring private space travel to the masses. And it marks the first time a US commercial human flight has reached space since 2011, when the space programme came to an end.

SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, took off in the early morning sunshine at the Mojave test centre in California. Soon after, it was released by its carrier plane around 43,000 feet and climbed up to altitudes of around 271,000 feet, touching the edge of space and marking a major achievement for the company.

As it arrived, the official Virgin Galactic Twitter account posted: “SpaceShipTwo, welcome to space.”

Despite the  challenges, finally we get to the point where we are at least within range of space altitude is a major deal for our team,” George Whitesides, Virgin Galactic’s chief executive, told reporters