Virgin Space Plane at Oshkosh Gathering

Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo made its first public appearance at the Experimental Aircraft Association's Air Venture annual gathering in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on July 27. The twin-fuselage plane circled the runway a few times before and then landed in front of hundreds of visitors.

The plane, designed by Richard Branson, owner and chairman of Virgin Group, and engineer Burt Rutan, is part of Virgin Galactic's plan to be a commercial space travel provider.

Rutan partnered with Branson after Rutan won the Ansari X prize, worth $10 million, for sending his SpaceShipOne into space. This was the first time a private manned craft reached space.

WhiteKnightTwo will take SpaceShipTwo, Virgin's pressurized spacecraft, from Spaceport America in New Mexico, America's first commercial spaceport, 50,000 feet into the atmosphere. Upon reaching that height, SpaceShipTwo would detach and continue into space at four times the speed of sound.

SpaceShipTwo would accommodate six passengers who would experience weightlessness for about five minutes and would have the opportunity to see the Earth from space.

Virgin Galactic has already taken 300 reservations at a cost of $200,000 each. It holds $40 million in deposits. Virgin Galactic's customers include Bryan Singer, director of "Superman Returns", as well as scientist Stephen Hawking.

WhiteKnightTwo has already made 16 test flights. Test flights of SpaceShipTwo will begin this fall.