British dance act serve up theme to SpaceShipTwo plus exclusive DJ set at launch event.

When Virgin Galactic were looking for some atmospheric music to herald the launch of their ground-breaking ‘SpaceShipTwo’ this week, they turned to the UK’s biggest DJs, Above & Beyond.

At an event hosted by Richard Branson in the Mojave Desert, the track chosen to accompany the official unveiling of SpaceShipTwo was Above & Beyond’s club anthem ‘Buzz’, which samples Buzz Aldrin’s original moon-landing dialogue. To mark the occasion, guests were also handed a special ‘Galactic Grooves’ USB wristband, featuring a selection of Above & Beyond’s songs.

After the unveiling and naming by governors Richardson and Schwarzenegger, Above & Beyond performed an exclusive DJ set in front of an audience of 800 dignitaries, celebrities and soon-to-be astronauts, plus the assembled global media.

Jono Grant from Above & Beyond said: “We’re big fans of all things space-related and so in terms of dream gigs, this is up there alongside our performance in Rio to 1million people. We’re now hoping to persuade Richard to let us DJ on the first Virgin Galactic passenger flight into space!”

Keep reading for the more plus YouTube video of “Buzz”.

The launch party also featured the first ever ice bar in the desert, hosted by Absolut and Swedish IceHotel, and all the guests were protected from the desert cold by designer space jackets supplied by PUMA. Finally, to close off the celebrations, all the guests were given the opportunity to view the stunning night skies using specialist telescopes supplied by Ron Dantowitz of the Clay Observatory, whose unique tracking cameras followed SpaceShipOne into space during the epic flights of 2004.

Virgin Galactic is the world’s first consumer space travel operator, with flights costing $200,000. Check www.virgingalactic.com for details..