Risking it all is something that upwards of 1,000 mourners honored at a memorial Thursday for Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo pilot Michael Alsbury who died in the craft’s unexpected crash during a test flight on October 31. Family, friends, and coworkers gathered to honor the memory of the pilot while WhiteKnightTwo, the SpaceShipTwo’s mothership, flew over the Mojave baseball stadium where the ceremony took place.

In attendance were Alsbury’s widow and two young children as well as Brian Binnie and Mike Melvill, America’s first private astronauts and the first pilots of SpaceShipOne, the first of Virgin Galactic’s craft to travel out of Earth orbit ten years ago. President of Scaled Composites Kevin Mickey delivered a eulogy in which he named Alsbury a hero of American space exploration. Mickey drew parallels of Alsbury’s sacrifice to those of the crew of NASA’s Columbia space shuttle which broke apart during atmosphere re-entry in 2003.

George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic also spoke at the ceremony, assuring mourners that Alsbury’s memory will outlive the rest of the development team. Founder Sir Richard Branson called Alsbury a leader, mentor, and friend and lamented that the world lost “a true space pioneer.”

Branson announced that the next SpaceShipTwo craft is already being built and will be called “Hope” in honor of Alsbury’s contribution. He said that Alsbury imparted hope to the Virgin Galactic family by pursuing and achieving the dream he and they shared.