WATCH: Namira Salim becomes first Pakistani to conquer space

WASHINGTON: Namira Salim on board Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity space plane became the first Pakistani to reach space on Friday.

The space plane with five people on board including three passengers, a commander and co-pilot took off from New Mexico’s Spaceport America — the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport — with a sub-orbital trajectory.

Upon reaching the designated altitude, VSS Unity was released from the mothership with passengers experiencing several minutes of "weightlessness" and then returning to Earth with a view of the planet's curvature against the backdrop of outer space as they will not be reaching orbit.

Salim — part of the Galactic 04, Virgin Galactic's fourth mission in 2023 — was among the first 100 to purchase Virgin Galactic's ticket in 2006 for $200,000. The cost of her journey has since increased to $450,000.

Among others on the flight were Trevor Beattie, a British advertising professional, and Ron Rosano, a US astronomy educator along with commander Nicola Pecile and Pakistani-Canadian pilot Jameel Janua.

Janjua — with over 4,000 flying hours in over 45 vehicles — was joined by Kelly Latimer and CJ Sturckow in flying the space plane. Both vehicles (mothership and the VSS Unity) returned to Spaceport America after the mission.

Earlier this week, Virgin Galactic revealed that it had postponed its upcoming space tourism flight by one day, to Friday, October 6.

Salim — the founder and chairperson of the nonprofit Space Trust — is a long-time adventurer and became the first Pakistani to visit both the North Pole in April 2007 and the South Pole in January 2008.

On Wednesday, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar congratulated Namira Salim for becoming the first woman from Pakistan to go to space.

“By proving their mettle as trailblazers in multiple fields, Pakistani women are making the whole nation proud,” Kakar wrote on his X account, wishing her luck.