Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo has successfully broken the sound barrier during the first in a series of powered flights for the suborbital craft. The spacecraft, built by Scaled Composites took off from Mojave Air and Space Port, carried underneath its mothership, WhiteKnightTwo at 7am local time on April 29th. At 7:50am, after climbing to an altitude of 14 630 meters, SpaceShipTwo [...]
Post Tagged with: “WhiteKnightTwo”
SpaceShipTwo Completes First Glide in Powered Configuration
Virgin Galactic issued the following notice on December 19, 2012: SpaceShipTwo today undertook its 23rd glide flight in the pre-powered portion of its incremental test flight program. This was a significant flight as it was the first with rocket motor components installed, including tanks. It was also the first flight with thermal protection applied to the spaceship’s leading edges. It [...]
Virgin Galactic’s LauncherOne Promises Accessible Space
On July 11 2012, at the Farnborough International Airshow, Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson announced LauncherOne, a satellite launch vehicle designed to put small satellites of approximately 225kg into Low-Earth Orbit. “Virgin Galactic continues to innovate space access, and LauncherOne is a key step in its successful commercialization,” said Mohamed Badawy Al-Husseiny, CEO of Aabar Investments PJS. The rocket will [...]
SpaceShipTwo Cleared for Test Flights
The following press release was published by Virgin Galactic on May 30, 2012. Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline, announced today that its vehicle developer, Scaled Composites (Scaled), has been granted an experimental launch permit from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for its suborbital spacecraft, SpaceshipTwo, and the carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo. “This important milestone enables our team to progress [...]
The Spaceship Company Qualifies 3 Structural Subcontractors
The Spaceship Company (TSC) announced Monday that it had qualified three aerospace composite part suppliers to provide structural components for the WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo suborbital space tourism vehicles. Applied Aerospace Structures Corp (AASC), GFMI Aerospace & Defence, and Triumph Aerospace Systems all met or exceeded the conditions outlined in TSC’s qualification document TSDP-740. “On behalf of everyone here at The [...]
Newly Created Stratolaunch to Develop Air-Launch System
Philanthropist and entrepreneur Paul Allen announced in a press release on December 13 that he would be reuniting with his former SpaceShipOne partner Burt Rutan to found Stratolaunch Systems. The main objective of Stratolaunch will be to develop a revolutionary aircraft-launched space transportation system. “We are at the dawn of radical change in the space launch industry,” said Allen. ”Stratolaunch Systems is [...]
Virgin’s SpaceShipTwo Stalls During Test Flight
According to Parabolic Arc, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo experienced a stall upon releasing from carrier mothership WhiteKnightTwo during a drop test on September 29, 2011. The test, ID 73/GF16 conducted by pilot Stucky, copilot Nichols and Flight Test Engineer Persall, lasted 7 minutes and 17 seconds, and ended as planned. Test card called for releasing the Spaceship from WhiteKnightTwo and immediately entering a [...]
SpaceShipTwo Captain Takes Inaugural Flight
Captain Dave Mackay, Virgin Galactic Chief Test pilot and future pilot of SpaceShipTwo, took his inaugural flight on board of WhiteKnightTwo, carrier mothership and launch platform for the suborbital spacecraft. This is the first test flight piloted by Virgin Galactic’s own crew: all test flight performed so far have been in fact executed by Scale Composite’s test pilot. Mackay took his [...]
