Spaceport for tourist flights dedicated

LAS CRUCES, N.M., Oct. 25 (UPI) -- A private spaceship intended to carry tourists into space has touched down at the New Mexico spaceport that will become its home base, company officials said.

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, carried by its mother ship WhiteKnightTwo, landed on a runway in the southern New Mexico desert Friday to celebrate the dedication of the runway at Spaceport America, promoted as the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport, SPACE.com reported.

A giant hangar for the two ships and other facilities are under construction.

"I can't wait for our first day of commercial operations here," British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic's founder, said. "Today is very personal as our dream becomes more real."

While SpaceShipTwo is designed for tourist flights to suborbital space, Virgin Galactic has set its sights on orbital travel, too.

"Obviously, we want to move on to orbital after we've got suborbital under our belts, and maybe even before that," Branson said.

Branson and his family will be the first passengers aboard SpaceShipTwo when it begins official operations in nine to 18 months, he said.