MOJAVE, Calif.--On Monday, The Spaceship Company, which is the partnership between Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites, opened the doors to its new assembly facility. There, the company will produce new models of SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo, which will be used to take tourists willing to pay $250,000 into space.
To celebrate the opening, The Spaceship Company hosted an event where, for the first time ever, WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo appeared alongside the original WhiteKnight and a replica of SpaceShipOne.
Here, SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo are seen in the middle of the giant assembly hangar.
As the hangar doors opened, the audience of about 250 invited guests, politicians, media, and employees watched SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo appear outside.
Barely noticeable on the bottom of SpaceShipTwo is the word "experimental," signifying that the spaceship is still in the testing phase. It is not known when Virgin Galactic will begin taking tourists into space, but it said Monday that it has booked $60 million worth of business for the future flights.
In this photo, taken from above, it is possible to see both the new SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo combination alongside a replica of the original SpaceShipOne. Virgin Galactic said Monday's event was the first time all of Virgin Galactic's vehicles had appeared together in public.
This is a replica of SpaceShipOne, the vehicle that won the X-Prize in 2004. The original spaceship is currently on display at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
