Sir Richard Branson: Space flight will be 'extraordinary'

UK businessman Sir Richard Branson is about to realise a lifetime’s ambition by flying to the edge of space.

He’ll ride his Virgin Galactic rocket plane on Sunday to an altitude where the sky turns black and the Earth’s horizon curves away into the distance.

The entrepreneur says he wants to evaluate the experience before allowing paying customers aboard next year.

The vehicle will set off for the 1.5-hour mission above New Mexico at about 07:00 local US time (14:00 BST).

Virgin Galactic will be providing an online stream of the event.