Virgin Galactic -- the Richard Branson enterprise aimed at taking civilians to the brink of space aboard a commercial shuttle -- successfully launched and landed its SpaceShipTwo Tuesday in an unmanned flight test.

The rocket-powered shuttle took off from and landed at Mojave Air and Space Port in California Tuesday, the latest test since the shuttle last took to the air in August. Virgin Galactic commercial space flight plans have suffered a string of delays, but Branson and his company are still confident that they aren't far from taking their first paying customers to space.

Virgin Galactic's Twitter account said the successful test flight "brings spaceflight closer."

Coupled with several good, full duration ground tests of SS2's rocket motor in recent weeks, today's flight brings spaceflight closer— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 7, 2014

Not everyone thinks the delays are anything to put much stock in, and many believe the company continues to make significant strides.

"They're doing it the right way," former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria recently told Space.com. "They're taking their time. They're being safe. They're making sure they have all the t's crossed and the i's dotted."

Photo: #SpaceShipTwo lands after her 54th test flight. Credit: Scaled Composites / Jason DiVenere pic.twitter.com/w7VTcviCbN— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 7, 2014

Branson originally promised the first commercial spaceflight would take off from New Mexico's Spaceport America by the end of the year. That date has since been pushed into 2015.

SpaceShipTwo is built to carry two pilots and six passengers to suborbital space. Paying customers won't orbit Earth, but they will get dramatic views of their home planet set against the blackness of space -- as well as a few minutes of zero-gravity weightlessness. Tickets are $250,000. More than seven hundred passengers have already reserved seats.