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Virgin Galactic's first space rocket plane, SpaceShipTwo, succumbed to a tragedy amid test flight. However, sixteen months later, the second SpaceShipTwo has been rolled out and rechristened as Virgin Spaceship Unity today in a gala event.

The star studded evening consisted of Virgin employees, VIPs and spacefliers to-be for the official rollout at the Final Assembly, Integration and Test Hangar (FAITH) at Mojave Air and Space Port. Although Stephen Hawking, celebrated British Theoretical physicist, could not be a part of this ceremony, he disclosed the name of the plane in an audio clip, says Collect Space

"We are entering a new space age, and I hope this will help to create a new unity," said Hawking, who has been guaranteed a free spaceflight if he's up to it when VSS Unity enters service. "Space exploration has already been a great unifier. We seem able to cooperate between nations in space, in a way we can only envy on Earth."

Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic and British billionaire, arranged for the ceremonial naming to be done by his granddaughter, Eva Deia, born on the same day last year.

"I'm pretty sure a 1-year-old has never christened a spaceship before, so we really are in virgin territory," Branson quipped. "Today seems to the right time to change that, as we after all are celebrating the birth of two gorgeous ladies."

Branson said that it made perfect sense that this new aircraft be christened by an infant with a bottle of milk rather than bottle of champagne. With the help of her mom and dad, Eva Deia smashed the milk bottle on the plane's nose, as reported by GeekWire