Tier Two
Encyclopedia
Tier Two is Scaled Composites
and Virgin Galactic
's orbital
human spaceflight
program. The program's spacecraft will be based on SpaceShipTwo if that is successful. Initial plans call for the spacecraft to be named SpaceShipThree.
Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites is an aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman that is located at the Mojave Spaceport, Mojave, California, United States...
and Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is a company within Richard Branson's Virgin Group which plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public, along with suborbital space science missions and orbital launches of small satellites...
's orbital
Orbital spaceflight
An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above...
human spaceflight
Human spaceflight
Human spaceflight is spaceflight with humans on the spacecraft. When a spacecraft is manned, it can be piloted directly, as opposed to machine or robotic space probes and remotely-controlled satellites....
program. The program's spacecraft will be based on SpaceShipTwo if that is successful. Initial plans call for the spacecraft to be named SpaceShipThree.
External links
- SpaceShipThree poised to follow if SS2 succeeds (Flight International, 8/23/2005)
- Burt Rutan on Civilian Spaceflight, Breakthroughs, and Inside SpaceShipTwo, space.com (Leonard David), 11 August 2006