Virgin Galactic has launched its sixth commercial space flight. This mission, called Galactic 06, sent four special passengers into suborbital space and back, including the first Ukrainian woman to reach the final frontier.

“Welcome to the world #Galactic06! “Our pilots, crew, and spacecraft landed safely at Spaceport America in New Mexico,” Virgin Galactic said. said. X today shortly after landing.

As noted in the release, Galactic 06 took off from Spaceport America in southwestern New Mexico. Virgin Galactic’s VMS Eve launch vehicle lifted off at noon EST (5 p.m. GMT; 10 a.m. local time) with the four-passenger VSS Unity spaceplane under its wings. Eve dropped Unity to an altitude of approximately 45,000 feet (13,700 meters), then the spacecraft ignited its rocket engine and headed into suborbital space.

The passengers of Galactic 06 experienced a few moments of weightlessness and were able to see their home planet against the dark background of space before touching down on Earth to land on the runway at America’s Space Station about 90 minutes after launch. (Virgin Galactic did not livestream the mission; it released an update on the X during the flight.)

Virgin Galactic did not disclose the identities of the pre-Galactic 06 passengers, only their country and/or state. One was from Texas, one from California, one from Austria and another from Nevada and Ukraine, the company said.

Today we got their names: Lina Borozdina, Franz Heider, Neil Kornswit and Robbie Vaughn. According to Virgin Galactic, Borozdina became the first Ukrainian woman in space. Commander CJ Sturcow and Pilot Nicola Pesile flew VSS Unity today, while Michael Mazzucci and Dan Alix flew VMS Eve.

Galactic 06 was Virgin’s first mission of the year and, if all goes to plan, one of Unity’s final flights. The company said it will soon retire the spaceplane that has carried all of Virgin’s space flights to date to focus on its future Delta-class vehicle.

Each Delta plane will be able to fly up to twice a week, according to Virgin. Delta’s first vehicle is scheduled to begin test flights in 2025, and the company wants the vehicle to enter commercial service the following year. Virgin Galactic has a rival in the suborbital space tourism industry; Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company that lifts people and payloads using a rocket-capsule combination called New Shepard.

New Shepard recently returned to flight after failing during an uncrewed research mission in September 2022. The vehicle has not transported people since August 2022. Tickets for the six-seat Unity are currently selling for $450,000. Blue Origin does not disclose ticket prices.