Richard Branson, 5 crewmates soar to space and return to Earth safely aboard rocket ship - WATCH

Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson and five crewmates soared to space and returned safely to Earth within an hour, reported news agency Reuters. On Sunday, billionaire Richard Branson took off from a base in New Mexico aboard a Virgin Galactic rocket plane and safely returned in the vehicle's first fully crewed test flight to space, a symbolic milestone for a venture he started 17 years ago. Branson called it an ‘experience of a lifetime' as the spaceship touched down after a voyage.

“Congratulations to all our wonderful team at Virgin Galactic for 17 years of hard work to get us this far,” he said during a live feed as the VSS Unity spaceship glided back to Spaceport America in New Mexico.

Reaching its high-altitude launch point at about 53 miles (85 kilometers), beyond the boundary of space according to the United States, allowing the passengers to experience weightlessness and admire the Earth’s curvature.

The flight boosted confidence for Virgin Galactic, plans to start taking customers on joyrides from 2022, the report said. It's a beautiful day to go to space, Branson tweeted in the morning, posting a photo of himself with fellow billionaire and space-tourism rival Elon Musk.

He said 600 astronauts have also booked reservations, at around $250,000 per ticket for the supersonic flight.

Bezos’ Blue Origin has yet to announce prices, but late last week boasted via Twitter that it would take clients higher and offer bigger windows. Unlike Blue Origin and Musk's SpaceX both launch capsules atop rockets.