According to a press release on the company’s website, Virgin Galactic, a commercial spaceflight company owned by Richard Branson and the Virgin Group, is well on its way to developing a viable (and reusable) passenger spacecraft.

The company successfully completed the second rocket-powered, supersonic test flight of its flagship vessel – called the SpaceShipTwo – on Thursday. The craft achieved both high altitudes and substantial speeds along the way, and Virgin Galactic specialists even used the flight as an opportunity to try out the SpaceShipTwo’s revolutionary “feather” apparatus, a fixture on the craft’s wing that should allow for both atmospheric re-entry and safe landing.

Needless to say, Virgin Galactic’s commercial spaceflight breakthroughs are impressive, and while it will likely be a long time before the SpaceShipTwo is actually flying passengers into the cosmos, the craft has already exhibited potential that other spaceflight outfits – NASA in particular – might be smart to adopt. The “feathering” mechanism in particular is a huge step forward. Spacecraft re-entry and re-usability have been major issues for the viability and expense of spaceflight, and have likely been the primary roadblocks for establishing a reasonably-priced commercial spaceflight option. If Virgin Galactic has found the solutions to those issues, then the potential for passenger spaceflight is higher now than it has ever been before.

That’s certainly the belief of H.E. Khadem Al Qubaisi, the chairman of Virgin Galactic partner, aabar Investments. After the SpaceShipTwo successfully completed all aspects of its spring test flight, Qubaisi stated that Virgin Galactic was “very close” to achieving one of its major goals: “commercializing access to space for the broader public.”

Virgin Galactic is indeed owned by the same Virgin Group that controls Virgin Mobile, Virgin Music, and countless other ventures across different industries. For Sir. Richard Branson, the Virgin Group’s founder and CEO, the goals of Virgin Galactic might just make it his biggest venture yet. According to the company’s website, Virgin Galactic is “on track to be the world’s first commercial spaceline.”

With hundreds of deposits already in place from passengers who want to take the ride into space, as well as plans to provide guests with exciting zero gravity experiences and terrific planetary views, Virgin Galactic already has a well-defined vision in place for how business will play out in the commercial spaceflight realm. For a guy who started his empire with a single independent record store, that’s a big leap.