Virgin Galactic

Space tourists will travel on a "radical" jet

SpaceShip 2 / Image via thomasnet.com

Oshkosh, WI - Space tourism firm Virgin Galactic has unveiled a radically configured jet that will launch a spacecraft carrying tourists into Earth's orbit.

The firm conducted a demonstration flight of the double-hulled plane dubbed White Knight 2 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin Monday.

When commissioned, the White Knight flies to an altitude of 50,000 feet, where the rocket-propelled spacecraft carried by the plane takes off and ascend another 360,000 feet to take six tourists to zero gravity. The spacecraft called SpaceShip 2 then returns to the ground.

Scaled Composites of Mojave, California built the White Knight 2.

Meanwhile, Virgin Galactic plans to show the SpaceShip 2 to the public in December.

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