10 Amazing Space Projects from NASA and Beyond

Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo

Unveiled officially in December of 2009, the SpaceShipTwo is Virgin Galactic’s commercial space flight vehicle, set to launch in 2011 for anyone who ponies up for the $200,000 ticket. The flights will soar about 60 miles above the earth at speeds approaching 2,600 mph. The innovative design of the craft uses less fuel because it will launch from another craft and run on a single booster rocket.

“Less fuel and clean fuel all add up to a space launch system which will be completely unprecedented in its low environmental impact compared with current space flight,” says Sir Richard Branson, the CEO of Virgin Galactic, speaking in a press release. “The spaceship’s carbon footprint for each of its passengers and crew will be about a quarter of that for a trip from London to New York.”