( CNN ) -- Virgin Galactic is one flight closer to becoming a commercial `` spaceline . '' The company 's passenger spacecraft , SpaceShipTwo , completed its first rocket-powered flight Monday morning above the Mojave Desert in California . About 45 minutes into the flight , SpaceShipTwo was released from its carrier craft , WhiteKnightTwo . Ignition of the rocket motor was triggered , carrying SpaceShipTwo to a maximum altitude of 56,000 feet . During the 16-second engine burn , the spaceship broke the sound barrier , according to a statement from Virgin Galactic . The rocket-powered portion of the flight lasted a little more than 10 minutes , and the entire flight took about an hour . The flight was not a space flight . Virgin Galactic said it will continue testing this year and plans to reach full space flight by the end of 2013 . `` For the first time , we were able to prove the key components of the system , '' said Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson in a statement . Branson was in the Mojave Desert for the flight . `` Today 's supersonic success opens the way for rapid expansion of the spaceship 's powered flight envelope , with a very realistic goal of full space flight by the year 's end . '' More than 500 would-be space tourists have signed up to take short $ 200,000 flights that would involve several minutes of weightlessness .
Virgin Galactic : First rocket-powered test flight completed for SpaceShipTwo . Test was not a space flight , but company says it anticipates space flight by year 's end . The aircraft broke the sound barrier during propulsion , Virgin Galactic says .