Branson, crew go to space and back on Virgin Galactic spaceship

A billionaire, philanthropist, business tycoon Sir Richard Branson has became an astronaut ushering in a new era of private space tourism. Branson boarded his company Virgin Galactic vessel, a voyage he described as the "experience of a lifetime" -- and one he hopes will usher in an era of lucrative space tourism. He propelled into suborbital space where he enjoyed over three minutes of weightlessness in microgravity. He was accompanied by India-born Sirisha Bandla and four other passengers.

Welcome to the dawn of a new space age #Unity22 @virgingalactic pic.twitter.com/Rlim1UGMkx

— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) July 11, 2021

Aeronautical engineer Sirisha Bandla on Sunday became the third Indian-origin woman to fly into space when she joined British billionaire Richard Branson on Virgin Galactic's first fully crewed suborbital test flight from New Mexico. Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity, as the spaceplane is called, took off for the 1.5-hour mission above New Mexico following a 90-minute delay due to bad weather. Ms Bandla joined Branson and five others on board Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Unity to make a journey to the edge of space from New Mexico. "I am so incredibly honoured to be a part of the amazing crew of #Unity22, and to be a part of a company whose mission is to make space available to all," 34-year-old Bandla tweeted days before the flight.

The primary objective for Unity 22 was to serve as a test flight for future commercial passenger flights by Virgin Galactic. She became the third Indian-origin woman to fly into space after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams. Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma is the only Indian citizen to travel in space. The former Indian Air Force pilot flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on April 3, 1984, part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme.