Virgin Galactics unveiled the first private spaceship - the Enterprise

Spaceship 2, the first private spaceship in history, and the whiteknight 2, the launch vehicle that will carry it into space, were presented yesterday for the first time to the general public in the Mogabi desert in California. The flights into space will begin at the end of a series of test flights and the receipt of the necessary governmental approvals

Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, and designer Brett Rutan, today lifted the lid on the first commercial spaceship, which is planned to fly thousands of tourists into space in the coming years. The spacecraft will soon begin a series of test flights, on the way to obtaining the necessary governmental approvals to operate a regular space flight line. The spacecraft is capable of flying 6 private tourists into space, for a suborbital flight, this is in addition to the two astronauts who will fly it.

Out of respect for the long tradition of the name "Enterprise", later today in another ceremony, the governor of California Schwarzenegger and the governor of New Mexico Richardson will launch the spaceship and remove the lot also over its new name - vss Enterprise, (virgin space ship).

"This is indeed a historic day" said Sir Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin, at the event of removing the lot. The team created not only a world precedent, but also a ship that looks like a work of art. The unveiling of the spacecraft takes the vision of freedom in space to the next level and illustrates the fact that this ambitious project is moving quickly towards the goal of safe commercial flight into space."

Aliron Yaron, the chairman of the Israeli company "Galactic Dream Lines", which markets the flight tickets for the "New Enterprise" in Israel, took part in the launch event, at a price of 200 thousand dollars. Yaron, who has accompanied the project since its inception, said: "This is a history that is deeply felt. So many Israelis dreamed of flying Enterprise, now this dream is becoming tangible."

"Virgin Galactic", a subsidiary of the Virgin Global Group owned by Richard Branson, was founded in 2004, following Branson's vision to operate commercial space flights. To date, over 200 people around the world have signed up for Virgin Galactic's commercial space flights, who have already paid an advance, and over 70,000 have expressed their desire to fly on the flight. The Israeli representative of Virgin Galactic, Galactic Dream Lines, operates in Tel Aviv under the management of businessman Aliron Yaron, and deals in the marketing of flight tickets to space in Israel.