维珍银河推出新式太空旅游火箭飞机
The commercial spaceflight company Virgin Galactic has rolled out a new version of its space tourism rocket plane.
商业航天公司维珍银河推出了一款新式太空旅游火箭飞机。
The move comes nearly 16 months after a fatal accident destroyed its sister ship during a test flight in California's Mojave Desert.
The rollout of the gleaming craft marks Virgin Galactic's return to the race to become the world's first major private space tourism company.
The new passenger spacecraft is expected to take thrill-seekers, researchers and commercial customers on short hops into space.
Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, says the new vehicle means the dream of private space tourism can now be made accessible.
"Together, we can make space accessible in a way that has only been dreamt of before now. And by doing that, we can truly bring positive change to life on Earth. This spaceship is the embodiment of that goal."
The ship is named Virgin Spaceship Unity at the suggestion of theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, to whom Richard Branson promised a free ride into space.
From outward appearances, the spacecraft is nearly identical to the one lost in 2014, which killed one of its pilots and set back the nascent industry.