麻豆约拍

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic appears to be on track to take the general public up into space. The private-sector rocket ship designed for tourists successfully reached the edge of space for the first time on Thursday as part of ongoing tests on the craft.

Now Branson says he aims to begin commercial flights by March of next year. Speaking from the Mojave desert in California where the tests took place, he told Newsday's William Edmundson how he felt as it became clear the test was successful.

(Photo: Sir Richard Branson celebrating the Virgin Galactic test flight of SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity. Credit: Press Association)