(Learn more about the future of space flight.)
Powered by a hybrid engine—the gas nitrous oxide combined with rubber as a solid fuel—SpaceShipTwo will be flown by two pilots and carry up to six passengers who will pay about U.S. $200,000 apiece for the ride.
Like its predecessor, SpaceShipTwo will be taken aloft by a carrier airplane and then released before firing its rocket engine.
Virgin Galactic says passengers will experience about four and a half minutes of weightlessness and will be able to unbuckle themselves to float in the cabin before returning to Earth as an unpowered glider.
Xcor's Lynx also is intended to return as a glider but with the capability of restarting its engine if needed.
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