Watch WhiteKnightTwo Take Flight (Video)

Attendees at the

AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin

were treated with watching Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo take flight. On board the mothership -- which will launch space tourism and science customers into space -- was none other than Vigin's founder Richard Branson. "This was one of the most incredible experiences of my life," Branson said after the flight. "It's a beautiful aircraft to fly and its incredibly light carbon construction and efficient design points the way to a much brighter future for commercial aviation as well as the industrial revolution in space which I believe our entire space launch system heralds."

Branson and Virgin Galactic also signed an agreement yesterday at the air show for an Abu Dhabi-based investment group to buy almost a third of the space tourism company. Aabar Investments received 32 percent of the company for $280 million. Virgin would like to see the WhiteKnightTwo used to launch small payloads into orbit, similar to how Orbital Sciences' Pegasus launcher operates. The money from Aabar will go toward developing Virgin Galactic's orbital capability, and it's hoped the first satellite launches can take place in three years.

Sources:

Technology Review

, Richard Branson's Blog

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com