Spaceport America
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Spaceport America, formerly the Southwest Regional Spaceport, is an FAA-licensed spaceport located on 18,000 acres (7,300 ha) of State Trust Land in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin 45 miles (72 km) north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Truth or Consequences. With Virgin Galactic's launch of the VSS Unity, with three people aboard, on May 22, 2021, New Mexico became the third US state to launch humans into space after California and Florida.
Spaceport America terminal hangar facility
Spaceport America terminal hangar facility as of October 2010
The "Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space" in October 2010
The runway under construction, March 2010
SpaceShipTwo
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The Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is an air-launched suborbital spaceplane type designed for space tourism. It is manufactured by The Spaceship Company, a California-based company owned by Virgin Galactic.
SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity in the Virgin Galactic Final Assembly Integration Test Hangar
Full-scale mock-up of SpaceShipTwo in Virgin Galactic livery
SpaceShipTwo in a captive flight configuration underneath White Knight Two, during the runway dedication of Spaceport America in October 2010. VMS Eve is shown carrying VSS Enterprise.
A view of the firing of SpaceShipTwo's rocket engines during its first powered flight in April 2013.