Virgin Galactic unveils new passenger spacecraft

Some 300 people have already signed up for a trip into space

Sir Richard Branson and partner Burt Rutan will today unveil the first commercial spacecraft designed to take passengers into orbit.

The craft, dubbed Virgin Space Ship (VSS) Enterprise, will seat six passengers and two pilots and be capable of achieving low earth orbit of 63 miles up before falling back to earth. Branson has said that more than 300 people have already signed up for a trip with his space travel venture Virgin Galactic.

Commenting on the unveiling, Branson: “This is truly a momentous day. The team has created not only a world first but also a work of art.

“The unveil takes the Virgin Galactic vision to the next level and 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.”

The rocket-powered craft will be loaded onto a mother ship, named Eve after Branson’s mother, which will use standard jets to get the craft to 50,000 feet, after which the Enterprise will detach and fly into orbit using its rocket motor.

Burt Rutan, founder of Scaled Composites, which built the craft, added: " Today is the culmination of a dream that began many decades ago, was stimulated by Paul Allen’s funding of our X-Prize winning SS1 and then moved forward to commercial reality by Sir Richard and Virgin’s visionary investment in a new future for space transportation.”

The unveiling will take place tonight in the Mojave desert with Governor Schwarzenegger of California and Governor Richardson of New Mexico in attendance.