LAS CRUCES, N.M., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- SpaceShipTwo, the suborbital space tourist craft, is entering a period of aggressive U.S. testing to prepare it for commercial operations, its backers say.
At Spaceport America, a facility under construction in New Mexico as the home of Virgin Galactic, the spaceship is being prepared for more glide tests and the eventual fitting of its hybrid rocket motor.
Starting space tourism operations is a challenging endeavor, a Virgin Galactic executive said.
"There are a lot of different pieces to it. Job number one is to continue progressing and to eventually finish the flight test program safely and build a set of vehicles that can be flown safely with precious cargo," CEO George Whitesides told SPACE.com.
Virgin Galactic plans to eventually operate five spaceships and two carrier aircraft.
The fleet of ships will be built by The Spaceship Co., which started construction Nov. 9 on its facilities at Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
Still ahead for Virgin Galactic is obtaining a commercial license from the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation.
Virgin Galactic and the FAA are working together, Whitesides said, to meet safety and oversight requirements.
