Richard Branson dedicates Virgin Galactic spaceport
The British billionaire abseiled down the side of the world’s first built-from-scratch commercial spaceport, swigging from a bottle of champagne.
New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez and astronaut Buzz Aldrin also attended.
The 2.5-hour flights will offer five minutes of weightlessness and cost $200,000 (£127,000).
Powered test flights are scheduled to take place next year and Sir Richard expressed hopes that Virgin Galactic’s commercial flights could begin soon after.
‘Literally out of this world’
He had hoped the maiden flight would take place in 2007, but the project has been hit by delays.