One step beyond

摘要

Space, as the saying goes, is the final frontier. At least, it is for tourists. And while Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo is probably the best-known craft aiming to take paying customers for the ultimate joy-ride into the zone of zero-gravity and terrific views, Europe's premier player in space, EADS Astrium, is determined it will not be the only one. Astrium has the Spaceplane, its own concept for a space tourism craft, in an advanced stage of development. It is based around a different concept of flight than SpaceShipTwo and the company hopes it will be ready for its first flight in 2011 - two years after Virgin Galactic's planned maiden flight.