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Hundreds of paying space tourists and travel agents, rocket geeks and glitterati have gathered in the California desert town of Mojave to see what’s likely to be the first commercial suborbital spaceship up close. Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane has been under development for years in a Mojave hangar at Scaled Composites - the company that built the craft’s predecessor, SpaceShipOne, to win a $10 million prize for private spaceflight five years ago. The aerospace guru behind both rocket planes, Burt Rutan, is known for playing his cards close to the vest - and today’s unveiling marks the first opportunity for outsiders to get a close look at his latest brainchild. (via Spaceship Enterprise debuts - Cosmic Log - msnbc.com
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