Plane designed to launch spaceship debuts at Oshkosh air show

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An airplane designed to launch a spaceship from 50,000 feet made its public debut yesterday in Oshkosh.

The White Knight 2 circled the runway several times before it landed, wowing thousands of on-lookers at the EAA’s AirVenture Show.

Virgin Galactic made the twin-fuselage craft to launch commercial space travel.

The company plans to lift a pressurized spaceship from a base in New Mexico. It would release the ship at 50,000 feet.

The six passengers inside would feel weightless for about five minutes as they enjoy a glimpse of Earth. And the ship would then return similar to a space shuttle.

The whole process could take around 2.5 hours.

Virgin Galactic does not have a launch date yet. But about 300 people have made reservations for those kinds of flights.

It’s not cheap. Each ride costs around $200,000.

Tags: air show, white knight 2, wisconsin, oshkosh