9.12.2025

Virgin Galactic’s mothership, EVE, completed its inaugural flight from Spaceport America in New Mexico to Mesa Gateway Airport in November, where the company operates its only spaceship factory.

Plane spotter Slaven Gujic captured photos of the unusual aircraft from the airport’s cell phone parking lot.

The mothership, which Gujic described as looking “like two planes welded together,” drew a lot of attention from people after he posted the pictures on social media.

“People are actually asking me if those were real because they’ve never seen anything like it. So yeah, it’s pretty real,” Gujic said. “It was kind of surreal seeing it because only a few people have ever seen the plane airborne.”

The flight was a rehearsal for EVE as Virgin Galactic prepares to ferry new spaceships from Mesa to Spaceport America. A new class of spaceships is being built at the Mesa Gateway facility as Virgin Galactic competes with companies like SpaceX to get paying customers to space.

“I guarantee you the next time the plane departs, you’re going to see a huge following,” said Gujic.

According to Virgin Galactic’s website, commercial spaceflights are expected to begin next year.

Quelle: KTVK/KPHO