There hasn't been much buzz about Burt Rutan's company, Scaled Composites, since they won the $10M Ansari X-Prize by successfully flying the worlds first civilian spacecraft in 2004. Monday, we found out what they've been up to as Sir Richard Branson and Burt Rutan rolled out WhiteKnightTwo (WK2)...the launch/mother ship for their commercial spacecraft SpaceShipTwo (still under development.) Check out Wired's article for pictures or read the press release at Virgin Galactic's website.

Virgin Galactic is the company that will be providing the worlds first commercial space flights. They already have over 100 passengers who have committed to pay $200,000 for a flight on one of Virgin's spacecraft. I can just imagine how sales are going to increase after a few passengers' testimonials start telling what kind of an experience spaceflight is.

From one point of view, the roll-out of WK2 is just a step toward the dream of commercial space flight. However, this aircraft represents some major advances in efficient, economical aircraft design. Branson and Rutan hope that it will serve as an example to the overall aircraft industry of how to produce smarter, more effective machines.

Congratulations to Scaled and Virgin on their achievement. We're looking forward to seeing your aircraft fly!