This initial test was done at a runway at California’s Mojave Air and Spaceport this morning – Monday, that is, the 29th of April. This test was done with carrier mothership WhiteKnightTwo, it carrying SS2 to an altitude of around 47,000 feet (14,300 meters) where the smaller craft test-fired a rocket engine that would, or will, eventually carry it to its space-bound top height.

This test is only the very first in a set of tests that will eventually prove the craft viable for real human use. British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, owner and founder of Virgin Galactic, Virgin Airlines, Virgin Mobile, etc, spoke this morning of the event in brief, suggesting his day thus far has been “ridiculously exciting”. With flight tickets set at the moment at an expected two hundred thousand dollars a person, it’s not difficult to see more than one reason why Branson would find this day a positive one.

According to Virgin Galactic, they plan on running their first official full space flight by the end of the calendar year. This flight may or may not be working with user-purchased tickets at that time.

Virgin Galactic is a concept born not just of Branson’s wishes to head to space, but of the company’s ever-expanding aims to bring consumers entertaining experiences in travel. Such is a flight aboard a Virgin Airlines flight, complete with posh interiors and wireless phone chargers in specialized waiting rooms at the airport. After Virgin Galactic takes off for real, we expect Virgin Volcanic to head below our Earth with a giant drill – it’d only be right.

UPDATE: A video has been released showing this event, specifically the bit where the SpaceShipTwo breaks the speed of sound – watch for it now.

[via Space]

Over at Facebook you may have already noticed – calendar view is now live, ready to bring you all of your events in a much easier to read format than ever before. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 is ready for action soon – very possible with a lovely new set of lockscreen notifications onboard. Toshiba has brought forth a beast: the AL13SE 2.5″ HDD complete with 900GB at 10,500RPM.

A team-up has been announced between Planetary Resources and Virgin Galactic for the rushing of payloads to government-run operations (in space). A brand new watch that’s stranger than all the rest has been revealed: Tokyoflash Kisai Online: Tilt for time and you’ll find what you need.

Don’t forget to check out our Acer Predator AG3620G-UR21P gaming desktop Review for ultimate black and orange action.

Yahoo has had something like 453,000 accounts hacked this week – so watch out for that one. Get your hands on a brand new pair of 3D printed running shoes. The Nintendo Wii U has all but been promised at under $400 USD for later this year – or perhaps early next year. The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted something brand new in our own galaxy – a fifth moon orbiting Pluto. But it’s still not a planet.

“This new vehicle will change the whole satellite industry and space-based science research” Virgin Group founder Richard Branson said of the LauncherOne reveal. “Even before this official launch we have the largest order book of any new launch vehicle ever. The cost of putting a satellite into space before Virgin Galactic was around $30-40 million. We’ll be able to do it for under $10 million, opening up space to thousands of new groups, universities and research programs.”

LauncherOne will use the same WhiteKnightTwo ”mothership” as Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo will rely on, currently on its 100th test flight, and which will provide a moving launch point for the company’s missions. When approximately 50,000 feet above sea level, LauncherOne will be released from its berth underneath WhiteKnightTwo, free-fall for around four seconds, and then trigger its first stage rocket. After that, the second stage will fire one or more times, until the satellite payload is delivered to low-earth orbit.

“LauncherOne will go around the world at 80,000mph in 80 minutes” Branson said today. “It’s actually 90 minutes, but I thought around the world in 80 minutes sounded better!”

In LauncherOne’s favor is WhiteKnightTwo’s flexibility: Virgin Galactic will be able to fly the platform to customers’ centers of operation, rather than them have to transport satellites to fixed launch positions. “LauncherOne in its most typical configuration will be capable of delivering on the order of 500 lb (225 kg) to low inclination Low Earth Orbit,” Virgin Galactic says, “and 225 lb (100 kg) to a higher altitude, Sun-Synchronous Low Earth Orbit. Other configurations may offer significantly greater performance.”

April Fool’s! Yep, this is Virgin’s big hoax for tomorrow’s big prank day. And it was kind of elaborate. For starters, the company claimed to have signed on celebrities like Tom Cruise, Will.i.am, Seth Green, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Stephen Hawking joining up for the expedition. The hoax claimed that the expedition was $1 million per person.

Since April 1 falls on a Sunday, a few companies are trying to make the big April Fool’s Day news today, in order to make bigger waves on the blogosphere. For its part, Virgin has been spreading around its fake volcano-digging story around Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Branson himself is in on it, posting about it to his throngs of followers. It sounds like it would be a pretty awesome thing. Too bad it’s just a joke.

[via VentureBeat]

Virgin’s vice president of special projects broke the news while speaking to the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference, noting that while exact dates haven’t been set, the company expects to overcome the technical challenges before it. Virgin Galactic has already pre-sold almost 500 seats on the 8-person spacecraft at a whopping $200,000 a piece. and if all goes well with the testing in 2012 and 2013, they could begin some time next year or in 2014.

Virgin’s low-orbit plans include a two-stage process: first the carrier vehicle WhiteKnightTwo brings SpaceShipTwo to an altitude of 50,000 feet. Then SpaceShipTwo detaches from the carrier mechanism, powers its rocket engine and climbs to just over 300,000 feet, putting the craft in orbit for a single trip around the planet before returning and landing. A successful test of the second half of the flight plan would be a major accomplishment for Virgin Galactic and its eccentric owner Richard Branson. There’s no hard schedule planned at the moment – like the company’s earlier efforts, they intend to “fly when we’re ready”.

[via Space.com]