Posted 30 Nov 2009

Virgin Galactic has announced that its specially designed craft the SpaceShipTwo is almost ready for test flights into space.

The space plane may be ready to take tourists into the thermosphere by 2012, reports Wired magazine, after tycoon Richard Branson licensed the technology for Virgin Galactic.

SpaceShipTwo is carried into the air by its mother ship WhiteKnightTwo, the publication explains, before the smaller craft is propelled into the boundary between the atmosphere and the vacuum of space at three times the speed of sound.

Then, its engines will be cut and those on the craft will enter freefall and experience total weightlessness for a number of minutes, the publication stated.

It quotes a Virgin spokesperson as saying that 300 people have already submitted the US$200,000 (£121,337) needed to secure their tickets.

However, those who are not yet ready to float around in space could settle on travelling with one of Branson’s other companies – such as Virgin Atlantic – in the meanwhile.

Category: General Travel