Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Virgin Galactic Claims Test Milestone

Virgin Galactic, the commercial spaceflight and tourism company backed by Richard Branson, said Wednesday that it has met a major test milestone. The firm said its latest test flight for its SpaceShipTwo demonstrated its reentry configuration early Wednesday, as part of the third test flight for the vehicle in less than two weeks. The firm said the tests--at 51,500 feet--demonstrated its ability to slow the spacecraft during re-entry. The tests were conducted in Mojave, north of Los Angeles. The firm's vehicles are being built by Mojave-based Scaled Composites, the firm founded by famed aerospace designer Burt Rutan.