Monday, March 22, 2010

Virgin Galactic Completes Test Flight In Mojave

Virgin Galactic, the commercial spaceflight firm of Sir Richard Branson and Burt Rutan, announced today that it has completed the inaugural captive carry flight of the firm's combination spacecraft and mothership. Virgin Galactic said the flight, at the Mojave Air and Spaceport, is the first in a test program that will continue through 2010 and 2011. The new vehicles---the offspring of SpaceshipOne, the first private spacecraft to reach space--are targeted at use in launching daily space tourism flights from New Mexico. Virgin Galactic is a joint venture of Virgin Group and Mojave-based Scaled Composites.