Virgin unveils spaceship to offer space tourism

Others future space tourists at the event included Hollywood director Bryan Singer, environmental theorist James Lovelock, and magazine publisher Silvano Payne.

Even in the economic downturn, demand has been high for tickets aboard the first commercial space ship.

“The interest for flying into space is absolutely huge,” said Pamela Hurley-Moser, who owns a Portland, Maine-based travel agency accredited to sell Virgin Galactic tickets.

The new technology “is more than just about suborbital space, this is just the infancy of a whole new era in space exploration,” said Hurley-Moser.

Interest has remained high even without a firm go date for the first trip.

The White Knight mothership completed a year of “rigorous and successful” first phase flight testing prior to the attachment of SpaceShipTwo and another period of intensive testing will follow.

SpaceShipTwo, which is built from carbon composite materials like the mothership, will be powered by a hybrid rocket motor that is still under development.

But Branson said the unveiling “continues to provide tangible evidence that this ambitious project is not only moving rapidly, but also making tremendous progress towards our goal of safe commercial operation.”

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson are to christen SpaceShipTwo with name Virgin Space Ship Enterprise.

New Mexico is building a space port in Upham, New Mexico with a 10,000-foot (three kilometer) runway that is scheduled to be completed by mid-2010.

SpaceShipTwo is a successor to SpaceShipOne, a single-seat suborbital spaceplane also designed by Rutan, which won the 2004 Ansari X-Prize for the first manned private spacecraft.

Rutan made aviation history in 1986 with the Voyager, the first plane to fly around the world without stopping or refueling.

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