Richard Branson says Virgin Galactic will go to space “within weeks” Al Seib/LA Times/Getty

What is Virgin Galactic?

Virgin Galactic is a spaceflight company founded by billionaire Richard Branson in 2004. Its goal is to provide suborbital flights – in space, but not orbiting around Earth – to scientists and space tourists.

How will these tourists get to space?

The company’s main project is SpaceShipTwo, the craft it says will eventually ferry passengers and science projects just above the planet’s atmosphere. It is not a conventional rocket, but a rocket plane, shuttled high into the air by a larger aircraft before …