MOJAVE DESERT, Calif., - Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is gearing up to finally send its tourism rocket ship to the edge of space. If successful, it would be a major step toward the long-delayed dream of commercial space tourism. The next test flight could come as early as Thursday with two pilots taking Virgin Space Ship Unity high above California's Mojave Desert. A company statement says the next stage of testing aims to "reach a space altitude for the first time," reported Phys.org's John Antczak.
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The Intelligent Aerospace take:
December 13, 2018-Virgin Galactic is climbing ever higher in its goal to put tourists into space, which begins at 100 kilometers - 62 miles - above earth's surface. The window for its next tests opens today, and aims to reach that space threshold in the decade-old-plus private program.
Related: Virgin has successful test with 747 carrying air-launched satellite delivery rocket
Related: SpaceX launches Spaceflight SSO-A: SmallSat Express carrying 64 payloads to low Earth orbit
Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace
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