Jeff Bezos congratulates Richard Branson on his maiden space voyage

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos has offered his congratulations to Virgin owner Sir Richard Branson on his maiden voyage into space.  

The 70-year-old British billionaire flew to the edge of space aboard Virgin Galactic's first fully crewed flight on Sunday. 

Branson and five crewmates reached an altitude of 53.5 miles (86 kilometres) over the New Mexico desert before gliding safely back to Earth. 

The altitude was enough to experience three to four minutes of weightlessness and witness the curvature of the Earth – which Branson called an 'experience of a lifetime'.

The brief, up-and-down flight was intended as a confidence-boosting plug for Virgin Galactic, which plans to start taking paying customers on joyrides next year.   

Tourists are expected to pay 250,000 US dollars (£180,000) for a spaceflight on Virgin Galactic, which includes four minutes of zero gravity.  

Bezos, who also owns Amazon, is due to make his own trip on July 20 – the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. 

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'@richardbransonand crew, congratulations on the flight. Can't wait to join the club!,' Bezos posted to Instagram on Monday. 

Prior to the flight, Bezos had posted a photo of Branson with the caption: 'wishing you and the whole team a successful and safe flight tomorrow. Best of luck!' 

Bezos will travel with his younger brother Mark, a charity auction winner who's shelling out $28 million and pioneering female astronaut Wally Funk, 82. 

The Blue Origin passengers will spend at least 10 minutes floating in zero gravity inside the capsule during the suborbital sightseeing trip. 

Blue Origin named the New Shepard program after astronaut Alan Shepard, who was the first American to fly into space 60 years ago. 

The flight will mark a huge milestone in the mission to send paying customers to the edge of space – an industry known as 'space tourism'.  

But Branson has arguably 'won the space race' by pipping Bezos to the post by just nine days, as well as SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who tweeted, 'Congratulations, beautiful flight!'

Sunday's launch was hailed a 'landmark moment' for Branson, as well as the whole commercial space industry.

Take-off had been delayed by about 90 minutes on Sunday due to the weather overnight at Spaceport America in New Mexico, in the US.

Footage streamed live online showed the Virgin Galactic in the air at about 3.45pm UK time, and the aircraft had reached 40,000 feet by 4pm. 

The spacecraft was carried up into the atmosphere by its mothership, the VSS Unity, before being released so it could power up to highs of 250,000 feet.

Sir Richard and his crew reached speeds of Mach 3 on their way to the edge of space. 

After a short spell during which they experienced weightlessness, the craft then pointed downwards and made its way back to the ground, touching down around 4.40pm.

On the return flight, Sir Richard hailed the 'experience of a lifetime' and the 'hard, hard work' that went into the flight. 

Speaking to a crowd of spectators afterwards, Branson said: 'Like most kids, I have dreamt of this moment since I was kid. But nothing can prepare you for the view of Earth from space, the whole thing was just magical.' 

Sir Richard later posted a video of himself while onboard the Unity, saying: 'To all you kids down there, I was once a child with a dream, looking up to the stars. Now I'm an adult in a spaceship, with lots of other wonderful adults looking down at our beautiful, beautiful Earth.