Virgin Galactic is an aerospace company that designs, manufactures, and operates reusable spaceships and launch vehicles to provide suborbital commercial spaceflight experiences for private individuals, as well as research and scientific missions for government agencies and academic institutions. The company generates revenue from spaceflight ticket sales to high-net-worth customers, government and research contracts funded by NASA and other space agencies, and trademark royalties to Virgin Enterprises. Virgin Galactic's competitive advantages include its proprietary air-launch architecture (where a carrier aircraft lifts the spaceship to high altitude before rocket-powered ascent), a simple reusable hybrid rocket system, next-generation spaceships with expanded capacity, and ownership of Spaceport America, a purpose-built commercial spaceport in New Mexico.