Business tycoon, Sir Richard Branson believes Virgin Galactic is "back on track" in the race to take tourists into space.
The billionaire tycoon was speaking at the unveiling of Virgin's new SpaceShipTwo in the Mojave Desert in California.
The six-seater vehicle replaces the previous SpaceShipTwo which broke up high over the same desert in October 2014.
An investigation found that pilot Michael Alsbury deployed a braking mechanism early, causing the vehicle to fail. Mr Alsbury died in the crash while his co-pilot Pete Siebold was badly injured.
Virgin Galactic says it hopes to "democratise space" by taking fee-paying passengers on brief trips to the edge of space
But it faces competition from rivals in its attempt to develop what it calls a "commercial space line".
At the unveiling, Sir Richard told Sky News: "All of us have tears in our eyes today. Eighteen months ago was a difficult day to say the least but everybody picked themselves up and got straight back to work the next day and created this beautiful spaceship and we're now back on track again.
"There's so much that can be achieve to the benefit of earth by exploring space."
He performed the naming ceremony for the vehicle, christened Unity, with his one-year-old granddaughter Eva-Deia. They used a bottle of milk.
The spaceship also features an image of the eye of physicist Stephen Hawking.
In an audio message, Hawking said Sir Richard had offered him a seat aboard one of the first flights into orbit.
He said: "Since that day I have never changed my mind. If I am able to go and if Richard will still take me I would be very proud to fly on this spaceship.
"I have long been an enthusiastic supporter of human space flight and in particular making this enormous human achievement more accessible. The first private astronauts will be pioneers."
Hundreds of people have already paid $250,000 (£170,000) to book a seat with Virgin Galactic. Stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, Lady Gaga and Brad Pitt are said to have joined the list.
The first flights had been scheduled for 2009 but now the end of 2017 looks the earliest possible date.
Testing of SpaceShipTwo will now be stepped up but the company is unwilling to set deadlines. It says lessons have been learned from what happened to the previous craft.
Sir Richard said: "I've been working on this for 10 years and we won't give up until we have realised out dream."
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