Virgin Galactic, the company arguably farthest along in the world of private space travel, rolled out its new aircraft today. WhiteKnightTwo will serve to carry SpaceShipTwo up to 50,000 feet — beyond which the smaller craft is on its own to fire its rocket engine and soar up to the edge of space.

It’s been nearly four years since Paul Allen bankrolled Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites team into winning the Ansari X Prize, $10 million for flying a pilot to suborbital space in the same craft twice within two weeks. Virgin is hoping to test WhiteKnightTwo this fall, then roll out SpaceShipTwo for tests next year. The ultimate goal: paying customers, likely launching from a spaceport in New Mexico.

Image: Virgin Galactic