Public to get first up-close look at Virgin Galactic’s spaceship launcher at Wis. air show

Spaceship launcher featured at Wis. air show

OSHKOSH, Wis. — Aviation lovers can get their first look at an airplane designed to launch spaceships at an experimental aircraft show in Wisconsin.

Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft is scheduled to arrive at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture gathering in Oshkosh on Monday.

WhiteKnightTwo is designed to carry a spaceship into the upper atmosphere. The spacecraft would then launch from the plane at 50,000 feet and soar into space.

Virgin Group’s billionaire chairman, Sir Richard Branson, hopes to use the system to offer private space rides. Each trip will cost a traveler $200,000.

Company officials say 300 seats have already been sold. Each spaceflight — up and back down without circling the Earth — will include about five minutes of weightlessness.