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On Sunday, Burt Rutan (r), designer of SpaceShipOne, and project backer Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft (l), introduced Mike Melvill, the man who would attempt to be the first to pilot a non-governmental craft 100km (62 miles) into space.

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Pilot Mike Melvill gives his wife a kiss for luck before climbing into his craft for the historic flight. His lucky mascot was a badge he had made for her when they were 16-years-old.

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He gives the thumbs-up before White Knight starts to make its way to the runway.

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Before take-off, White Knight had to taxi past the thousands of excited press and spectators who had gathered all weekend at California's Mojave Airport.

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White Knight roars down the runway carrying SpaceShipOne, just after 0630 (PDT), 1330 (GMT).

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For its record-breaking space flight, SpaceShipOne was carried to 46,000ft (13.8km) by White Knight, then it fired its own rocket and blasted to 100km.

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Melvill had to switch to a back-up system after the craft experienced a serious anomaly between its motor igniting and the vehicle reaching its target altitude.

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The first non-government funded pilot in space, Melvill, said the view from space was "absolutely mind-blowing".

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After a 90-minute flight, SpaceShipOne successfully touched down on the airport's runway at 0815 PDT (1515 GMT) to loud applause.

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Burt Rutan was on the run way to celebrate with an extremely happy and relieved Melvill.

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The flight marks the start of a new era in space travel, which could open the skies to space tourism.