For you blogites out there, back on June 27th I noted that something was rumbling at Virgin Galactic — Sir Richard Branson’s public spaceliner enterprise — regarding a likely engine developer for the huge White Knight 2 carrier plane.

The curtain has now been lifted. Pratt & Whitney Canada has been picked to provide their PW308 turbofan engine to power the suborbital spaceship launcher. Pratt & Whitney Canada is a United Technologies company.

Those screaming PW308 engines will push the White Knight 2 (WK2) launch plane down the runway and skyward. The WK2 aircraft will haul SpaceShipTwo (SS2) — both are now being built by Scaled Composites in Mojave, California — to about 50,000 feet for release.

The first flight of White Knight 2 is planned for 2008.

Virgin Galactic is the launch customer for the SS2 system, having ordered five SS2 spacecraft with options for a further seven, plus WK2 carrier aircraft. The Pratt & Whitney Canada turbofan engine was selected by The Spaceship Company (TSC) - a jointly-owned Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites venture.

Additionally, TSC and Virgin Fuels will work with the Longueuil, Quebec-based jet engine supplier to evaluate use of advanced biofuels in White Knight 2 that could reduce engine emissions, thereby enhancing the carrier plane’s environmentally friendly status.

Virgin Galactic is offering suborbital space treks to the public for $200,000 a seat. So far, it has received over $25 million in deposits and interest from over 80,000 people from 120 countries around the world, according to a press statement released by the engine manufacturer.