Hasta La Gadget!

We have liftoff: Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo “rocket plane” has taken its maiden flight from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, MSNBC reports.

The SpaceShipTwo, pictured above attached to the WhiteKnightTwo carrier airplane, flew for almost three hours at altitudes up to 50,000 feet, though it still remained within the Earth’s atmosphere. The report said we still have several months before SpaceShipTwo hits outer space for the first time. Right now, the company is testing SpaceShipTwo’s aerodynamics.

Virgin Galactic is planning to begin taking passengers as early as 2011 or 2012. The Richard Branson-backed project first unveiled SpaceShipTwo late last year.