Virgin Galactic donates record-breaking SpaceShipTwo rocket to the Smithsonian

At $250,000 a pop, a ticket for the trip of a lifetime aboard Virgin Galactic’s space plane may be out of your price range, so instead how about checking out one of the rocket engines that made the ambitious “space tourism” project possible?

Virgin Galactic has just donated the rocket motor of SpaceShipTwo — aka VSS Unity — to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

It was the first one to power the aircraft to the edge of space on December 13, 2018, in a flight to test the system’s technology. It’s also been recognized by Guinness World Records as “the most powerful hybrid rocket to be used in manned flight.”

The rocket motor was unveiled at the museum in a ceremony attended by Virgin Galactic chairman Sir Richard Branson. It’ll be exhibited in the museum’s upcoming ‘Future of Spaceflight’ gallery focusing on commercial space flight, so expect to see additional exhibits from SpaceX and Blue Origin, among others.

Designed and built by The Spaceship Company — Virgin Galactic’s sister manufacturing organization — the rocket weighs around 3,000 pounds and, with a burn duration of around 60 seconds, created sufficient energy to propel VSS Unity to the edge of space at almost three times the speed of sound.