SpaceShipTwo will be the first spacecraft designed specifically for space tourism. Passengers can look forward to a three-day orientation and training session, a two-and-a-half-hour trip, several minutes of weightlessness, and a U.S. $200,000 ticket. Virgin Galactic has already booked about 200 seats for the flights, planned to begin sometime in 2009.

Branson—who plans to fuel the spaceliner using a new hybrid rocket fuel—told Space.com, "If you're going to build a spaceship, you've got to build a green spaceship."

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