SPACESHIPTWO COMPLETES 1ST ROCKET POWERED FLIGHT

Major Milestone in Commercial Spaceflight Achieved Today

April, 29, 2013 - MOJAVE, Calif. - Craig Curran of Galactic Experiences By DePrez joyfully proclaims, "We are witnessing the birth of an industry, the beginning of Space Tourism. With today's test, Virgin Galactic is one flight closer to becoming a commercial spaceline." Curran continues, "This test, conducted by teams from Scaled Composites (Scaled) and Virgin Galactic, officially marks Virgin Galactic’s entrance into the final phase of vehicle testing prior to commercial service from Spaceport America in New Mexico. With SpaceShipTwo's (SS2) first rocket-powered flight this morning we have achieved a major milestone in human spaceflight."

The rocket-powered portion of the flight lasted a little more than 10 minutes, and the entire flight took about an hour. The flight was not a space flight. Virgin Galactic said it will continue testing this year and plans to reach full space flight by the end of 2013.

"For the first time, we were able to prove the key components of the system," said Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson in a statement. Branson was in the Mojave Desert for the flight. See Video.

Branson said, "Today's supersonic success opens the way for rapid expansion of the spaceship's powered flight envelope, with a very realistic goal of full space flight by the year's end."

Craig Curran of Galactic Experiences By DePrez is part of a small group hand-selected by Virgin Galactic to sell suborbital space tickets. He is your dedicated Virgin Galactic Accredited Space Agent in Central and Western NY, Ohio, Ontario, Canada and Western Pennsylvania.

About Craig Curran
President of the DePrez Group Of Travel Companies, Craig has been a travel agent for the past 30 years. He has traveled the globe and directed the growth of the DePrez Group into one of the most diverse and successful independent travel management firms in the United States. Mr. Curran is on the board of VisitRochester, the convention and visitors bureau for Rochester, NY. He also serves on the Hillside Family of Agencies Board of Governors and resides in Pittsford, NY. Mr. Curran has long been fascinated with space and space travel. He has flown light jets, skydived and is an avid scuba diver.

About Galactic Experiences by DePrez
Galactic Experiences by DePrez is a member of the DePrez Group Of Travel Companies and is the largest independent travel management firm in central and western NY. Founded in 1929 the group provides extensive and diverse travel services, including cruise sales of Just Cruises, Inc. a top 50 cruise-only agency in N.A.), meeting and conventions planning to fortune 100 companies and large associations, corporate travel management, and luxury travel leisure sales through Whitaker & DePrez Travel Partners LLC.

About Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic, owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Aabar Investments PJS, is on track to be the world’s first commercial spaceline. The new spaceship (SpaceshipTwo, VSS Enterprise) and carrier aircraft (WhiteKnightTwo, VMS Eve) have both been developed for Virgin Galactic by Mojave-based Scaled Composites. Founded by Burt Rutan, Scaled developed SpaceShipOne, which in 2004 claimed the $10m Ansari X Prize as the world’s first privately developed manned spacecraft. Virgin Galactic’s new vehicles share much of the same basic design, but are being built to carry six customers on sub-orbital space flights, allowing an out-of-the-seat, zero-gravity experience and offering astounding views of the planet from the black sky of space. The VSS Enterprise and VMS Eve test flight program is well under way, leading to Virgin Galactic commercial operations, which will be based at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

About Scaled Composites
Founded in 1982, Scaled Composites specializes in the design, fabrication and flight testing of prototype aircraft and spacecraft from composite materials. Scaled is a project-oriented company that offers services within a concept-to-completion environment. Their services include conceptual design, aerodynamic and structural analysis and design, tooling, fabrication, structural testing, flight testing and simulation.

For More Information Please Contact:
CRAIG CURRAN , ASA
Galactic Experiences By DePrez, DePrez Travel Bureau, Inc.
585-442-8900 X224