A photo from open sources
Virgin Galactic Announces First Successful Test SpaceShipTwo suborbital spacecraft with rocket engine. According to company representatives, this the test will mark the transition to the final part of the tests before how will the ship begin commercial suborbital flights from Spaceport America in New Mexico.
Test flight started at 7:02 local time when SpaceShipTwo took off from Mojave Desert airfield with carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo. At an altitude of about 14 km after 45 minutes of stay in SpaceShipTwo detached from its carrier aircraft. After this pilots first turned on the rocket engine, and SpaceShipTwo rose to a height of 16.7 km. The engine ran for 16 seconds, as planned. During tests SpaceShipTwo reached Mach 1.2 speeds. 10 minutes after separation from WhiteKnightTwo at 8:00 local time suborbital ship successfully landed. Time Aircraft
