Virgin Galactic unveils new SpaceShipTwo plane

(FOX News) - Virgin Galactic unveiled the latest version of its SpaceShipTwo spaceplane Friday.

The private space tourism company revealed the plane during an event at the Mojave Air and Spaceport in California. Professor Stephen Hawking named the spaceplane Virgin Spaceship (VSS) Unity in a recorded speech.

"Together, we can make space accessible in a way that has only been dreamt of before now, and by doing so can bring positive change to life on Earth," said Virgin Group Founder Sir Richard Branson. "Our beautiful new spaceship, VSS Unity, is the embodiment of that goal and will provide us with an unprecedented body of experience which will in turn lay the foundations for Virgin Galactic's future."

The spaceplane is designed to take a crew of two pilots and six passengers to space.

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