FORMER Boscombe Down test pilot Dave Mackay has flown Sir Richard Branson to the edge of space. 

Virgin Galactic’s first fully crewed flight launched today (July 11). 

It was Sir Richard Branson's first Virgin Galactic flight and aimed to give the company's founder an opportunity to test the “private astronaut experience”.

Take-off had been delayed by about 90 minutes due to the weather overnight at Spaceport America in New Mexico, USA.

Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci were flying VSS Unity.

Before becoming an astronaut, Dave spent 16 years in the RAF. He was also a test pilot at Boscombe Down and awarded the Air Force Cross in 1992.

Salisbury Journal:

The chief pilot of Virgin Galactic, and former Winterbourne Dauntsey resident, piloted SpaceShipTwo, the VSS Unity, into outer space during a mission in February 2019 becoming the 569th human in space.

Sir Richard Branson Tweeted: "I have dreamt about this moment since I was a child, but going to space was more magical than I ever imagined."

The Unity 22 mission crew also included Beth Moses, Galactic's chief astronaut instructor; Colin Bennett, lead operations engineer; and Sirisha Bandla, vice president of government affairs. 

Video streamed live online showed the Virgin Galactic in the air at about 3.45pm UK time, and the aircraft had reached 40,000 feet by 4pm.

The spacecraft was carried up into the atmosphere by its mothership before being released.

Sir Richard and his crew reached speeds of Mach 3 on their way to the edge of space.

On the return flight, he hailed the “experience of a lifetime” and the “hard, hard work” that went into the flight.

After a short spell during which they experienced weightlessness, the craft then pointed downwards and made its way back to the ground, touching down around 4.40pm.