Sir Richard Branson in front of Virgin Galactic's Unity spacecraft Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic reached nearly halfway to space in the second powered flight of its Unity spacecraft Tuesday, putting the company only months away from launching its first commercial passengers. "It will be something like two or three more flights before we're actually in space," founder Richard Branson told CNBC after the second test flight, which he called "a tremendous step in the right direction toward accomplishing our goals." Branson's space company has "a step-by-step cautious approach" in its testing program, he said, doing "whatever it takes to make absolutely certain that we've put everything to bed" before trying to send humans into space. Tuesday's flight was its second rocket-powered launch since the fatal crash of its Enterprise spacecraft on Oct. 31, 2014. Unity underwent extensive engine testing and seven glide tests before Virgin Galactic said it was ready to make another rocket-powered flight.

Once Virgin Galactic has "a safe craft" that can reach more than 264,000 feet, Branson said, he will go up. "Soon after that, we'll start taking some of our astronauts up," Branson said. A key part of Virgin Galactic's plan to turn space tourism into a business is rapid reuse of the spacecraft. Unity was lifted into the air by the jet-powered mothership Eve, taking off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. It was released from under Eve's wing about an hour later, when Unity's rocket engine roared to life, sending the spacecraft at about twice the speed of sound to 114,500 feet. Unity then returned, using a technique called feathering to re-enter the atmosphere and glide back down to a landing on the same runway it had left. This technique of reaching space means Virgin Galactic was able to turn Unity around only 54 days after its first launch. Coincidentally, that's the same amount of time it took NASA to launch, land and launch again the space shuttle Atlantis in 1985 — the fastest turnaround during the shuttle program.

Virgin Galactic's Unity spacecraft fires its rocket engine during the second powered test flight. Virgin Galactic

"Ultimately we'll be able to cut it down to every four days," Branson said. He added that the goal of four days will only be realized "well after the test program is completed." For now, Branson is focused on his company creating a reliable means of letting more people experience weightlessness. In the latest test flight, Unity's rocket engine fired for 31 seconds. Virgin Galactic will likely aim to fire the engine for 40 seconds on the next flight, according to Branson, and 50 seconds on the following flight.



"And then, if that's all gone according to plan, 63 seconds will be what will take us into space," Branson said.

Competing with Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin

Branson is neck and neck with fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos as their companies close in on launching tourists into space. Branson said he does "not see this as a race," despite the comparison often arising. "Both companies need to succeed," Branson said. "If one beats the other by a couple of months, one way or the other, as far as the long term is concerned, that's not important."

Jeff Bezos checking out Blue Origin's Crew Capsule 2.0 after touchdown in West Texas on December 12, 2017. Blue Origin

Bezos has been pouring nearly $1 billion a year from his Amazon holdings into Blue Origin, the rocket-builder he founded in the pursuit of reaching zero-gravity conditions. Blue Origin is in the final stages of testing its New Shepard rocket, most recently launching its human-carrying capsule to 322,405 feet in an eighth successful flight on April 29. Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith told CNBC on April 18 that he hopes his company will be launching tourists to space on New Shepard this year.

'No ride anywhere in the world that will be like it'