Virgin Galactic Ends 2016 with Second SpaceShipTwo Glide Flight

Virgin Galactic's second SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane performed its second free flight Dec. 22 as the company prepares to enter a critical year in the vehicle's long-delayed development. The suborbital vehicle, named VSS Unity, took off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California around 4:20 p.m. Eastern attached to its WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft, according to updates provided by the company on Twitter. SpaceShipTwo was released from WhiteKnightTwo about 40 minutes lat