Virgin Galactic's plans to charter its first space flights by the end of the year have been given another huge boost after it got the green light to begin planning launches. The company, which is now deep in its testing phase, signed a deal with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to help it set clear guidelines on how its missions will take place in US airspace. The agreement doesn't give Virgin a license to embark on regular trips to space (at least not yet), but instead paves the way for Richard Branson and co. to operate Galactic like a commercial airline.