Quote:
Originally Posted by RedskinRat
SS2 Test Flight
The spaceplane being developed by UK billionaire Sir Richard Branson has made its first powered flight.
The vehicle was dropped from a carrier aircraft high above California's Mojave Desert and ignited its rocket engine to go supersonic for a few seconds.
Sir Richard's intention is to use the spaceship to carry fare-paying passengers on short pleasure rides above the Earth's atmosphere.
His company Virgin Galactic has already taken hundreds of deposits.
The rocket vehicle is known as SpaceShipTwo (SS2).
Although it has been in the air on more than 20 occasions, this was the first time its hybrid motor had been ignited.
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Thats pretty awesome.
What you are seeing here is our first private sector run spaceship that can do what the space shuttle did.
This a big step towards making civilian space travel become a lot more frequent and another way to service space stations.