Space tourism countdown begins

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as Virgin unveils factory

MOJAVE, Calif.--"We build spaceships."

That's the motto--perhaps the coolest ever?--of The Spaceship Company, the partnership between Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites, builder of the X-Prize-winning SpaceShip One and its younger sister ship, SpaceShip Two.

Already, Virgin Galactic has booked $60 million worth of flights from people in 46 countries. It's not clear when the company will begin sending tourists into space, but Whitesides said it is hoped SpaceShipTwo will make its initial test flights into space sometime next year.

Space tourism countdown begins as Virgin unveils factory | Geek Gestalt - CNET News

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck_yb1FnQOA&feature=player_embedded]In comes SpaceShipTwo, WhiteKnightTwo - YouTube[/ame]