VSS Enterprise takeoff

Inching ever closer to taking customers on commercial spaceflights, Virgin Galactic's VSS Enterprise took off on its first "captive carry" test flight at 7:05 a.m. Monday from the Mojave Air and Spaceport in Mojave, Calif.

The spacecraft, which was unveiled on December 7, 2009, took the journey while remaining attached to its mothership, a carrier aircraft called VMS Eve.

When commercial flights begin, the vehicle will cruise to an altitude of 50,000 feet, where the VSS Enterprise, powered by a hybrid rocket motor, will detach from the mothership and launch passengers into suborbital space.