VSS Enterprise First Flight

Photo from New Scientist

Virgin Galactic's new "space craft", SpaceShipTwo has taken it's inaugural flight, sitting attached to its launch craft Eve. SpaceShipTwo, which has now be renamed the VSS Enterprise, reached an altitude of just under 14km. The total length of the flight was around 3 hours. This first flight will be followed by a series of further test flights in the coming years with the first commercial flights proabably nearly five years away. Then, the new ship will be able to bring passengers into the upper atmosphere, over 100km above the surface of the Earth.