The private spaceflight company Virgin Galactic has picked its first commercial astronaut pilot to help fly a passenger-carrying space plane to the edge of space and back.

The company has tapped U.S. Air Force pilot Keith Colmer as its newest pilot for SpaceShipTwo, a private spaceliner designed to launch on commercial flights into suborbital space.  These voyages will zip up to about 62 miles (100 kilometers), considered the boundary of space, without making a full orbit around the Earth.

Colmer joins chief pilot David Mackay on Virgin Galactic's flight team, company officials said in an Oct. 26 statement.