Virgin Galactic has completed the first successful launch of a spaceplane in nearly four years.

The Unity spaceplane, with the help of the rocket-powered mothership Eve, managed to reach an initial altitude of 14.1 kilometers before it was undocked, CNBC reports.

Unity's own rocket engines then took over, and the craft reached a maximum altitude of 25.7 kilometers before turning back down to its landing site in the Mojave Desert. During the launch, Unity was also reported to have achieved speeds that broke the sound barrier.

The launch of Unity comes four years after the ill-fated test flight of the Spaceship Enterprise, which resulted in the death of the pilot, after which all further testing was halted.

Virgin Galactic, owned by eccentric billionaire and entrepreneur Richard Branson, plans to use its planes for space tourism.

Source: finwire