If all goes as planned, Richard Branson and five other crew members will take off from American New Mexico on Sunday afternoon, Swedish time.

The rocket was developed by his company Virgin Galactic, and unlike more conventional space rockets, it relies on a large plane instead of raw rocket power.

The plane transports the spaceship high into the atmosphere before the engines are even started.

The rocket should then leave the atmosphere for four minutes before returning to Earth.

Branson: "Race to create amazing rockets"

Branson hopes the technology will revolutionize space tourism, and as early as next year, Virgin Galactic plans to offer similar trips to the public.

At the same time, he is not alone in his plans for space charters.

Tesla founder Elon Musk and Amazon like Jeff Bezos are both working on similar projects.

The latter has also, like Branson, planned to go into space himself.

Bezos will take off from Texas in just nine days, but Branson does not see the billionaires racing.

- It is honestly not a race.

If it's a race, it's a race to create amazing rockets and make space more accessible.

I think we both want that, he says.