On Sunday, billionaire and founder Richard Branson will take off from a base in New Mexico on a Virgin Galactic vessel bound for the edge of space. With this, he is aiming to get the nascent space tourism off the ground. His official role will be to evaluate the private astronaut experience so that it helps in enhancing the journey for probable future clients.

The spaceflight is expected to take place after 7:00 am Mountain Time (1300 GMT). The live stream of which will be provided by Virgin Galactic on its official website.

How the spaceflight will work?

A massive carrier plane will take off from a horizontal runway, flown by two pilots, gaining altitude for about an hour.

Below this plane hangs the spaceship VSS Unity — a SpaceShipTwo-class suborbital rocket-powered spaceplane — with two more pilots and four passengers: Branson and three Virgin employees.

After climbing to 50,000 feet (15 kilometers), VSS Unity, which is about the size of a private jet, will be dropped and then ignites its rocket-powered engine to ascend at Mach 3 beyond the 50 miles (80 kilometers) of altitude considered the edge of space by US agencies.

Once the rocket engine is cut off, passengers can unbuckle and experience a few minutes of weightlessness, while admiring the curvature of Earth from the ship’s 17 windows.

After peaking at around 55 miles of altitude, the ship re-enters the thick part of the atmosphere and glides back to the runway.

When will the Virgin Galactic space flight take place?

The Virgin Galactic space flight will take place on Sunday, July 11.

Where will the Virgin Galactic space flight take place?

The Virgin Galactic space flight will take place from a base in New Mexico. A massive carrier plane will take off from a horizontal runway

What time will the Virgin Galactic space flight take place?

The Virgin Galactic space flight take place will take place at 9 am ET, the stream will begin at 6:30 PM IST (July 11) for Indian audiences.

Where can you watch the Virgin Galactic space flight?

The live stream of the Virgin Galactic space flight will be provided by Virgin Galactic on its official website.

Future prospects of the space flight?

After Sunday, Virgin Galactic plans two further flights, then the start of regular commercial operations from early 2022.

Some 600 tickets have already been sold to people from 60 different countries for prices ranging from $200,000 to $250,000.