Virgin Galactic spaceship carrying Branson touches down

Virgin Galactic's passenger rocket plane VSS Unity lands after reaching the edge of space above Spaceport America, US. (Reuters)

• Touch down occurred around 09:40 am Mountain Time (1540 GMT), about an hour after take-off
• "Congratulations to all our wonderful team at Virgin Galactic for 17 years of hard hard work to get us this far," Branson said

SPACEPORT AMERICA, United States: A Virgin Galactic spaceship carrying Richard Branson touched down Sunday after a voyage the British billionaire called an "experience of a lifetime."
"Congratulations to all our wonderful team at Virgin Galactic for 17 years of hard 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.
It reached a peak altitude of around 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.
Touch down occurred around 09:40 am Mountain Time (1540 GMT), about an hour after take-off.