Breaking News
The Greatest Theft in Human History
Trump Judges Most Likely to Be Confirmed Before New Senate Takes Over
How Washington Think-Tanks Paved The Road To Serfdom
Drones Built To Look Like Birds Evaded Detection At Air Force Tech Exercise
Top Tech News
Dude turns a $23 used smartphone into the 4G brain of an RC aircraft.
China's World-Beating Supercar Just Hit 312 MPH
Pentagon Delivers 25,000+ Drones And Counter-Drone Systems To CENTCOM In A "Massive Surge"
Prism puts an eye-controlled Linux computer on your face
Remember Yesterday: AI For Today and Tomorrow
Robot Mowers Invade America's Golf Courses, Putting Groundskeepers On Notice
Monstrous 13-foot mecha craves the dangerous jobs humans avoid
Scentronic tech lets you smell the internet
Virgin Galactic's new rocket plane revives its bid for a space airline
The metal kept moving east while the sellers ran, and Ronnie called the flush a week early
Virgin Galactic's next spaceship reaches build milestone
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Virgin Galactic's next passenger spaceship has reached a major construction milestone, the company said Wednesday.
All major structural elements have been assembled and the rocket plane is standing on its own landing gear at Mojave Air & Space Port in California, Virgin Galactic said in a statement.
Photos of the "Weight on Wheels" achievement show the craft in a hangar next to the Virgin Space Ship Unity spacecraft, which has been to space twice during test flights in preparation for commercial operations based at Spaceport America in southern New Mexico.
"We now have two spaceships which are structurally complete, with our third making good progress," CEO George Whitesides said. "These spaceships are destined to provide thousands of private astronauts with a truly transformative experience by performing regular trips to space.''
Continuing work on the new ship includes connecting flight control and other integrated systems.
The company has not set a date for the start of commercial operations but has said it anticipates doing so in 2020.
It has moved more than 130 employees to New Mexico and late last year inaugurated a program to prepare its first customers for the experience.