Space Ship Two firsts commercial space flight.

July 28th, 2008 - From the creators of the world's first privately developed spaceship comes its commercial cousin, Eve - and Space Ship 2.

We join the unveiling ceremony at Scaled Composites' Mojave, Calif., base with Burt Rutan.

Burt Rutan might have one of the coolest jobs on the planet because, not only does he design cutting edge aircraft -- and spacecraft - but his financier is none other than Sir Richard Branson.

Sir Richard had the bankroll needed to bring most of Burt's brilliant designs to life and now the two march boldly toward the next great milestone in human achievement - mankind's first commercial flights into space.

This dynamic pair showed off the launch vehicle for their new venture - Virgin Galactic - this week.

Branson set out to build the world's first commercial carrier providing air flights into space, Virgin Galactic, after watching Rutan's Space Ship One make three flights into space and win the $10 million X Prize in 2004.

Space Ship One (above) was a prototype with a winning edge. Its articulating wings bend upward, causing the normally streamlined fuselage to enter the atmosphere "belly" first.The large, surface area and relatively low weight of this design greatly decelerates the vehicle and creates a much slower and less dangerous re-entry.

Space Ship 2 (below) will travel into suborbital space after being lifted into flight by Eve. Eve, by the way, was named after Branson’s mother and replaces White Knight duties for Space Ship One. An artists rendering of Eve and Space Ship Two are shown here as well.

Click here to read Virgin Galactic's press release .

As to when Space Ship Two will make that first historic trip, Virgin won't promise - citing that safety and pragmatism is needed to ensure a risk free trip for the 11,000 passengers, including Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise (William Shatner), who have confirmed that they are willing to foot the $200,000 ticket - for a 3 minute ride into outer space.