The Virgin Galactic spacecraft has successfully returned to Earth after its first commercial space flight ended.

CTOnews.com, June 29-Virgin Galactic's first commercial space flight ended, returned safely at 23:42 Beijing time after nearly 14 minutes of autonomous flight, and successfully landed on the runway of the US spaceport.

According to reports, the Virgin Galactic VSS Unity suborbital space aircraft's first commercial manned mission Galactic 01 has a maximum flight speed of Mach 2.88 and a maximum altitude of 85079 meters.

The mission is a scientific research mission booked by the Italian Air Force and the first time a non-Virgin employee has been on board the VSS Unity spacecraft. During the mission, three Italian researchers will conduct 13 scientific research experiments.

It is worth mentioning that, despite its success, Virgin Galactic shares have fallen 11.8 per cent to $4.22 as of CTOnews.com.

From this mission, Virgin Galactic will enter the business operation phase. It is said that hundreds of space tourists have bought tickets, and the whole journey is 90 minutes long. Virgin Galactic is expected to launch its second commercial mission in early August and hopes to fly every month in the future.

Virgin Galactic made its first manned space flight in July 2021, and founder Richard Branson (Richard Branson) personally boarded a spaceship to the edge of space. Now, a successful test may be crucial for Virgin Galactic, which is still losing money, losing more than $500 million in 2022.

According to reports, each "ticket" of Virgin Galaxy is $450000 (currently about 3.258 million yuan) and requires a deposit of $150000 (currently about 1.086 million yuan). Commercial services can help Virgin contain these losses and fund its long-term plans, including the next-generation Delta, which will be launched in 2026.