Virgin Galactic space launch – live updates: First space flight for tourists launched successfully; passengers experience weightlessness

Key points: 

Virgin Galactic launches first spaceflight for touristsNews conference due at 7pmFlight lands safely after reaching the edge of spaceFormer Olympian and mother-daughter duo among passengers on boardHow bad is space tourism for the climate?
Read more: Why are billionaires drawn to ‘extreme tourism’?Live reporting by Ollie Cooper and (earlier) Tom Acres

17:06:03 Watch: Passengers experience weightlessness at the edge of space

Some more video from the historic Virgin Galactic 02 spaceflight to bring you now – showing the passengers unbuckling and enjoying zero gravity for a short time.

Jon Goodwin, Keisha Schahaff and Ana Mayers can be seen floating around the cabin shortly after reaching the edge of space, about 85km above the Earth…

16:57:29 News conference to come at 7pm

We are expecting to be able to bring you updates from a news conference later this evening. 

At 7pm, Virgin Galactic will host members of the media at a conference, where we expect to hear from the crew of the flight.

We may also hear from some or all of the passengers – who are now officially astronauts. 

Stay tuned to this live blog as we bring you latest reaction, pictures and footage from this historic spaceflight until then.

16:44:04 Watch: Moment historic spaceflight takes off

In case you missed it – you can re-watch the historic moment Virgin Galactic 02 took off from a runway in New Mexico.

The flight carried three passengers to the edge of space, before returning safely to Spaceport America.

Watch the moment the carrier plane Eve took off here…

16:35:22 Passengers enjoying weightlessness of space

We can now bring you images from a short time ago – in the five or so minutes passengers enjoyed at the edge of space before the VVS Unity turned around and landed safely back in New Mexico. 

Passengers on board the Virgin Galactic 02 enjoyed the weightlessness of space as the VSS Unity reached around 85km above the earth.

Keisha Schahaff, her daughter Anastatia Mayers and 80-year-old Olympian Jon Goodwin are now officially astronauts. 

16:33:22 Galactic 02 completes as spaceflight lands back in New Mexico

The VSS Unity has landed back on the Spaceport America runway – successfully completing the Virgin Galactic 02 commercial flight. 

Passengers have spent the last few minutes gliding back down from space towards New Mexico to land, before wheels touched down.

16:31:19 Passengers enjoy views as they approach edge of space

We have some images from a short time ago – showing the detachment of the carrier plane from the VSS Unity spaceflight while the passengers enjoy views of the earth. 

The passengers have now enjoyed weightlessness and the flight has now turned round and is gliding towards the earth.

We’ll be bringing you images of the passengers floating around the cabin shortly. 

16:17:58 Rocket detaches from carrier plane

The spaceplane that was being carried by the Eve plane has just detached and will now continue its ascent toward the edge of space. 

The VSS Unity, carrying Virgin’s first commercially flown space tourists, will travel to around 85km above the Earth, before heading back to the ground. 

Those on board are experiencing around 3 G’s of force, travelling around 1,000 kilometres per hour.

15:54:30 Watch take-off from the ground

Watch a view from the ground in New Mexico – where the Virgin Galactic 02 flight took off a short time ago.

A carrier plane nicknamed Eve took off from Spaceport America with all three passengers on board – preparing for a roughly 90-minute round trip.

15:52:01 Passengers can expect ‘amazing’ views of earth and space, expert says

Director of Launch at the UK Space Agency Matt Archer has been speaking with Sky News to outline what kind of experience today’s passengers should expect.

“They’ll go up to about 50,000ft on the carrier aircraft, and then once they reach that height, the VSS Unity will take them up to the edge of space,” he said.

“On the one side of the cockpit they’ll get to see the blackness of space without any atmospheric interference… and [on the other side] amazing views of earth,” he added. 

15:48:03 Richard Branson tuning in from Caribbean with family of passengers

Virgin boss Richard Branson is watching the Galactic 02 flight with the family of friends of passengers Keisha Schahaff and Anastatia Mayers in Antigua and Barbuda. 

“Proud to be in Antigua and Barbuda to watch today’s historic Virgin spaceflight alongside astronauts Keisha and Anastatia’s family and friends,” he said on X (formerly known as Twitter).

He shared the message alongside a photo of him hugging Ms Schahaff’s mother Florence. 

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