American space tourism company Virgin Galactic is preparing for its first spaceflight Spaceport America, their launch facility in New Mexico.

Preparations include training pilots using ground-based simulators, for both the spacecraft and its carrier aircraft. The latter is because the carrier airplane shares a very similar structure and controls to the spacecraft.

The company has already successfully completed a number of test flights from the facility using their SpaceShipTwo craft, but none of them reached space. The maiden spaceflight is to be carried before the end of the year, performed by two of the company's test pilots. If successful, it will put Virgin Galactic in a position to offer its commercial services to paying passengers next year.