Virgin Galactic plans powered space flight test within the year
It’s been slow going for the world’s first commercial passenger space program, but Virgin Galactic is slowly but surely making progress.
While it’s already gotten its SpaceShipTwo sub-orbital craft beyond the reaches of Earth’s atmosphere in successful tests before, it only did so with the help of a carrier vehicle, then glided back to earth and landed conventionally. The company hopes to install and test the craft’s rocket engine before the end of 2012, marking a major milestone in Virgin Galactic’s plans to create a space tourism business.
