A new era in spaceflight has begun with the opening of Virgin’s Spaceport in New Mexico.  With the nadir of the NASA Shuttle program, the private sector has stepped in. 

Voyager – Circumnavigated the world without refueling

Noted innovator Burt Rutan, the inventor of the Voyager – the first aircraft to circumnavigated the globe unrefueled – went on to win the Ansari X Prize.  The Ansari X-Prize was a prize designed to spur private, suborbital flight.

After winning the X-Prize he partnered with Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines to create the Virgin Galactic Line.  The concept is a lifter aircraft, the White Knight II which lifts the Spaceship II to 50,000 feet.  Then the craft detaches and burns a hybrid rocket engine for 70 seconds after which the passengers are treated to 5 minutes in zero-gravity.  Tickets are slated to set passengers back some $200,000 USD.  Hopefully the in flight movie is exciting.