Christened “EVE” in the honor of Sir Richard Branson’s mother, the WhiteNightTwo represents a ground-breaking achievement in aerospace technology, as the world’s largest all carbon composite aircraft. Some of the aircraft’s components have been built using composite materials for the first time, making the WK2 the quintessence of the 21st century aerospace design and technology.

“WhiteKnightTwo represents the apogee of the application of carbon composites to aerospace,” said Burt Rutan, founder of the Scaled Composites facility, adding that the vehicle will probably be developed and sold for a variety of applications beyond the initial requirements of Virgin Galactic. “We hope that its efficiency will herald a wake up call to the aerospace industry and the necessity of using new materials and technologies in the future,” Rutan said.