It was shown in a test run carried out earlier this week that an experimental glider could arrive at the edge of space without the help of an engine. The crewed glider, named Perlan 2, was able to reach an altitude of 5,000 feet, in a proof-of-concept test prior to next year's record-breaking journey that has been planned to the stratosphere.

On Thursday, Allen McArtor, chairman of Airbus North America(AIR.PA), told Reuters after he visited Oregon to watch the test that the first flight is an important achievement and it is quite impressive.

To begin the flight, the Perlan 2 is pulled at the back a motorized aircraft, but after it is in the air, it can use the energy of the wind to gain pace and altitude, according to Ed Warnock, CEO of the Perlan Project, a non-profit organization operated by volunteers.

McArtor said in relation to Airbus' decision to invest in the project, "We are asked to sponsor all kinds of things but we were drawn to this by its daring, the imagination involved in actually flying a glider to the boundary of space, and the fact that they knew what they were talking about".

Both McArtor and Warnock refused to talk about details of financial backing of Perlan 2. In 2016, the Perlan Project looks forward to launching the glider from the Andes mountains area in Argentina that should let the craft ride atmospheric waves to altitudes that researchers have just started understanding, according to Warnock.