The spaceplane being developed by UK billionaire Sir Richard Branson has made its first powered flight.

BBC: Science correspondent, BBC News

Mrs Woodman was an 11-year-old girl when the Wright brothers made history with the first powered flight in 1903.

BBC: Old and bold

Virgin Galactic officials and Mr. Branson, a flamboyant entrepreneur who has pledged to take the first tourist flight along with members of his family, recently have declined to predict the date of the first powered flight or when paying passengers would take off.

WSJ: Virgin Galactic Spacecraft Tests Its Rockets in Flight

Earlier this year, the airline Virgin Atlantic conducted the first commercial flight powered partly by biofuel.

BBC: Hydrogen-powered plane takes off

The first night flight of a solar-powered craft in 2010 was followed by a first international flight in 2011, and first inter-continental flight in 2012.

BBC: Solar Impulse plane lands in Phoenix

SpaceShipTwo, its inventively named commercial vehicle designed to take (well-moneyed) civilians into outerspace, has just completed its first rocket-powered test flight.

ENGADGET

The Air Force is also testing jet engines using biofuels and had the first successful biofuel-powered test flight just last week.

WHITEHOUSE: Energy Security and Independence

This flight was important for a number of reasons, but in no small part because it represented the first controlled, sustained flight complete with human-powered takeoff.

ENGADGET: The Highs and Lows of Human-Powered Flight Alt

Switzerland is home to several renewable energy projects, including the most advanced solar-powered aircraft, the Solar Impulse, which made its first international flight less than two weeks ago.

FORBES: In Switzerland's Decision to Phase Out Nuclear Power, a Glimpse of the Future?