( CNN ) -- British billionaire Richard Branson 's dream of space travel that thousands of people can afford took a leap toward reality with the maiden flight of the world 's first commercial spacecraft over California 's Mojave Desert . Branson 's company Virgin Galactic announced Monday that the VSS Enterprise had successfully completed what it called a captive carry flight attached to a carrier plane . The spacecraft 's developer called it a `` momentous day . '' `` The captive carry flight signifies the start of what we believe will be extremely exciting and successful spaceship flight test program , '' said Burt Rutan , founder of Scaled Composites , which built the spacecraft . The VSS Enterprise remained attached to its carrier aircraft for the duration of the 2-hour , 54-minute flight , reaching an altitude of 45,000 feet , according to a statement from Virgin . Eventually , the 60-foot long rocket plane will be taken 60,000 feet above the Earth by its carrier and fire rockets to propel itself into space . The test-flight program is expected to continue through 2011 , going first to a free glide and then to a powered flight before commercial flights begin . `` Seeing the finished spaceship in December was a major day for us but watching VSS Enterprise fly for the first time really brings home what beautiful , ground-breaking vehicles Burt and his team have developed for us , '' Branson said . `` Today was another major step along that road and a testament to U.S. engineering and innovation , '' he said . Virgin Galactic has envisioned one flight a week , with six tourists aboard . Each will pay $ 200,000 for the ride and train for at least three days before going . About 80,000 people have placed their names on the waiting list for seats . `` What we want to be able to do is bring space travel down to a price range where hundreds of thousands of people would be able to experience space , and they never dreamed that [ they ] could , '' Branson said last year . He has said he hopes the technology will lead to a new form of Earth travel , jetting people across oceans and continents faster through suborbital routes .
VSS Enterprise remained attached to carrier aircraft for duration of near 3-hour flight . Test-flight program is expected to continue through 2011 before commercial flights start . Virgin Galactic has envisioned one flight a week , with six tourists aboard . Each will pay $ 200,000 for the ride and train for at least three days before going .