Marking a major step towards a record-setting glider flight to the edge space, the Airbus Perlan 2 has successfully completed its first test flight on Wednesday. Perlan took a flight from Redmond Municipal Airport into the skies over Central Oregon.

The Perlan 2 glider is the world's first engineless aircraft designed to reach the edge of space. This was the first test flight of the aircraft, which next year will attempt to set a new world altitude record for any airplane.

The major goal of this project is to open up a world of new discoveries related to high-altitude flight, climate change and space exploration. Makers of the glider hoped to break the world record in the first flight itself. In the next flight, they expect the Perlan 2 to soar to a height of 90,000 feet.

Perlan Project CEO Ed Warnock said, "This glider is different, because its pressurized. The pilots won't have to wear space suits, and they will be in a vacuum in atmospheric pressure".

AirBus CEO Alan McArtor said in an explanation that this whole project was not completed over a night; the project is a labor of love, 22 years in the making. Now when the glider has successfully completed its first flight, the joy is immense, he said.

The Perlan 2 glider was developed by The Perlan Project, a volunteer-run, non-profit endeavor headed by leaders in aerospace and engineering. The project is supported by Airbus Group and a group of other sponsors that includes Weather Extreme Ltd., United Technologies and BRS Aerospace.