Virgin Galactic has released the final design of the launch system that will take fare-paying passengers into space.
It is based on the X-Prize-winning SpaceShipOne concept - a rocket ship that is lifted initally by a carrier plane before blasting skywards.
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Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson said the space business had huge potential.
"I think it's very important that we make a genuine commercial success of this project," he told a news confernce in New York.
"If we do, I believe we'll unlock a wall of private sector money into both space launch systems and space technology.
"This could rival the scale of investment in the mobile phone and internet technologies after they were unlocked from their military origins and thrown open to the private sector."
(BBC)
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