Editing SpaceShipTwo (section)

=== Fleet history ===
SpaceShipTwo (and the [[WhiteKnightTwo]] launcher aircraft) were built by [[The Spaceship Company]], originally formed as a joint venture between Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic.<ref name=aw20110708>{{cite news|last=Norris|first=Guy|title=Scaled And Virgin Lift Veil on Spaceship Production Progress|url=http://aviationweek.com/awin/scaled-and-virgin-lift-veil-spaceship-production-progress|access-date=8 July 2011 |publisher=Aviation Week & Space Technology|date=11 July 2011}}</ref> Virgin Galactic bought out Scaled Composites' interest in TSC in 2012, and TSC became a wholly owned subsidiary of Virgin Galactic.<ref name=yf20121005>{{cite web|title=Virgin Galactic Acquires Full Ownership of The Spaceship Company|url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20121005005907/en/Virgin-Galactic-Acquires-Full-Ownership-Spaceship-Company#.VFvXsPnF98E|publisher=Business Wire|date=5 October 2012|access-date=6 October 2012}}</ref>

The launch customer of SpaceShipTwo was Virgin Galactic, who {{as of|2005|lc=y}} had publicly announced they had ordered five vehicles,<ref name=Sdc20050725 >{{cite news |url=http://www.space.com/news/050727_branson_rutan.html |title=Richard Branson and Burt Rutan Form Spacecraft Building Company |publisher=SPACE.com |date=27 July 2005 |access-date=17 October 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/news/080123-virgingalactic-ss2-design.html|title=Virgin Galactic Unveils Suborbital Spaceliner Design|access-date=25 January 2008|date=23 January 2008|publisher=SPACE.com|first=Tariq|last=Malik}}</ref> but only three had been ordered by 2015.<ref name="NBCNews-2015-02-07"/> The first SS2 was named [[VSS Enterprise|VSS ''Enterprise'']].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/virgin_space_040927.html|title=Virgin Galactic to Offer Public Space Flights|access-date=20 December 2007|publisher=SPACE.com|date=27 September 2004}}</ref> The "VSS" prefix stands for "Virgin Space Ship". VSS ''Enterprise'' was the first to fly;<ref name="gizmodo">{{cite web|url=http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2006/09/Comparison_SS1-SS2.jpg |title=Scale comparison chart of Spaceshipone and Spaceshiptwo|access-date=6 April 2007|publisher=Gizmodo|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070317222044/http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2006/09/Comparison_SS1-SS2.jpg|archive-date=17 March 2007}}</ref> it was [[VSS Enterprise crash|destroyed in a crash]] on 31 October 2014.<ref name="NYT-20141031-KC"/><ref name="WRD-201410312-AR">{{cite web|last=Rogers|first=Adam|title=Space Tourism Isn't Worth Dying For|url=https://www.wired.com/2014/10/virgin-galactic-boondoggle/|date=31 October 2014|publisher=Wired (magazine)|access-date=1 November 2014}}</ref><ref name="BBC-20141031">{{cite news|title=Virgin Galactic spacecraft crash kills pilot|date=31 October 2014 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-29857182|publisher=BBC News|access-date=8 November 2014}}</ref> The build of [[VSS Unity|VSS ''Unity'']] was about 65% complete in early November 2014, and Virgin Galactic expected it to be complete in 2015. It was unveiled in February 2016<ref name=nw20141102>{{cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/virgin-galactic-ceo-sees-new-spacecraft-ready-next-year-281652 |title=Virgin Galactic CEO Sees New Spacecraft Ready Next Year|publisher=Newsweek|date=2 November 2014}}</ref> and performed its first powered flight in April 2018. The third SpaceShipTwo was expected to commence construction by the end of 2015.<ref name="NBCNews-2015-02-07">{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/virgin-voyage/virgin-galactic-gears-building-third-spaceshiptwo-n302191|title=Virgin Galactic Gears Up for Building Third SpaceShipTwo|date=7 February 2015|publisher=NBC News}}</ref><ref name=vg20160310>{{cite web|url=http://www.virgingalactic.com/update-from-mojave-testing-testing-1-2-3/ |title=Update from Mojave: Testing Testing 1-2-3|publisher=Virgin Galactic|date=10 March 2016|access-date=15 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315120901/http://www.virgingalactic.com/update-from-mojave-testing-testing-1-2-3/|archive-date=15 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

''Unity'' was retired on 8 June 2024 after its final flight took place on that date, as Virgin Galactic shifted its focus to the next generation Delta-class vehicles. At the time, the only SpaceShipTwos completed and flown were the ''Enterprise'' and the ''Unity''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foust |first=Jeff |date=2024-05-08 |title=Virgin Galactic plans higher mothership flight rate with next-generation spaceplanes |url=https://spacenews.com/virgin-galactic-plans-higher-mothership-flight-rate-with-next-generation-spaceplanes/ |access-date=2024-05-09 |website=SpaceNews |language=en-US}}</ref>