It was the third supersonic outing for the spaceship, which rocketed to 170,800 feet at a speed of Mach 2.47 — more than twice the speed of sound.

After releasing from the carrier VMS Eve at 46,500 feet, pilots Dave Mackay and Mike Masucci pulled up into a near vertical climb to enter the Mesosphere, the layer that sits between the earth’s thermosphere and stratosphere.

It’s the first time Virgin Galactic was able to reach the Mesosphere.

The area is also referred to as the ‘Ignorosphere’ in the scientific community for being an under-studied layer, out of range from balloon flight.

The test flight was used to gather more data on supersonic aerodynamics and thermal dynamics.

The successful flight also brings commercial space flight one step closer to reality.

Other companies in the space race include Elon Musk’s Space X, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, and Boeing.