Virgin Galactic
Encyclopedia
Virgin Galactic is a company within Richard Branson
's Virgin Group
which plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflight
s to the paying public, along with suborbital space science
missions and orbit
al launches of small satellite
s. Further in the future Virgin Galactic hopes to offer orbital human spaceflight
s as well.
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journey with a short period of weightlessness. The spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo, will be carried to about 16 kilometers or 52000 ft by a carrier aircraft, White Knight II
. At that point, when the carrier aircraft reaches its maximum height, the SpaceShipTwo vehicle will separate and continue to over 100 km (the Kármán line
, a common definition of where "space" begins). The time from liftoff of the White Knight booster carrying SpaceShipTwo until the touchdown of SpaceShipTwo after the sub-orbital flight will be about 3.5 hours. The sub-orbital flight itself will only be a small fraction of that time. The weightlessness will last approximately 6 minutes. Passengers will be able to release themselves from their seats during these 6 minutes and float around the cabin.
In addition to the sub-orbital passenger business, Virgin Galactic will market SpaceShipTwo for sub-orbital space science
missions and market WhiteKnightTwo for "small satellite" launch services. They plan to initiate RFPs
for the satellite business in early 2010.
(1000 m/s), which is faster than current fighter jets are capable of attaining; however, the spacecraft is not able to sustain that speed for long periods of time. It has double the crew (2) and can carry triple the passengers (6) of its predecessor. In honour of the science fiction series Star Trek
, the first two ships are named after the fictional starships Enterprise and Voyager. To re-enter the atmosphere SpaceShipTwo folds its wings up, and then returns them to their original position for an unpowered descent flight back onto the runway. The craft has a very limited cross-range capability and until other planned spaceports are built worldwide, it has to land in the area where it started. Further "Spaceports" are planned in Dubai and elsewhere, with the intention that the spaceline will have a world-wide availability and commodity in the future.
-winning SpaceShipOne concept - a rocket plane that is lifted initially by a carrier vehicle before blasting skywards. SS1 became the world's first private spaceship with a series of high-altitude flights in 2004.
Its successor, however, is twice as large, measuring 18 m (60 ft) in length. And whereas SpaceShipOne only had a single pilot (and the ballast equivalent of two passengers), SS2 will have a crew of two and room for six passengers. More than 400 individuals are reported to have signed up for a flight as of early 2011. Each is paying $200,000 (£121,000) for the privilege of experiencing approximately six minutes of weightlessness during what will be a two-hour end-to-end flight. Many of those future "astronauts" have attended the VIP unveiling at the Mojave Air and Spaceport. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson christened the spaceliner Virgin SpaceShip (VSS) Enterprise.
The New Mexico authorities are investing almost $200m (£121m) in a purpose-built facility in Upham, Spaceport America
. It will have a 3,000m (10,000 ft) runway and a suitably space-age terminal and hangar building designed by Foster and Partners. Sir Richard's Virgin Galactic enterprise will have competitors but he is almost certain to be the first to market, barring any problems arising in the test campaign. SpaceShipTwo's carrier plane is called WhiteKnightTwo. It was finished last year and has already begun its own trials.
(TSC) is a new aerospace production company, founded by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Scaled Composites, which is building a fleet of commercial spaceships and launch aircraft with the intention of making widespread space
travel a reality. TSC’s initial launch customer is Virgin Galactic, which has contracted to purchase five SpaceShipTwos and two WhiteKnightTwos. To meet Virgin Galactic’s requirements, TSC has contracted Scaled Composites to develop and build prototypes of WK2 and SS2, of which TSC started full-scale production in 2008.
WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft: Virgin MotherShips
SpaceShipTwo suborbital spacecraft: Virgin SpaceShips
, where Scaled Composites
is constructing the spacecraft. Virgin Galactic expects that initial passenger flights will take place there, as well.
An international architectural competition was held for the design of Virgin Galactic's operating base, Spaceport America
in New Mexico. The contract was awarded to URS and Foster + Partners architects. Upon the completion of the spaceport, flight operations will transfer from the California desert to the new bases.
Virgin Galactic also announced on April 3, 2008 that in the future they will operate in Europe out of Spaceport Sweden
.
Will Whitehorn
stated in an interview with Space.co.uk on 29 April 2008 that the company was considering flying from a UK base: RAF Lossiemouth
in Scotland, during the summer months only. There are also rumours that the base could be located in RAF Machrihanish
(Campbeltown, Scotland) or an unnamed location in south-west England.
In October 2010, the company held an event at Spaceport America where it ceremoniously opened the first runway. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson attended the ceremony, and SpaceShipTwo, also known as the "VSS Enterprise," was landed during the event. For the landing, the VSS Enterprise was carried underneath the fuselage of Virgin Galactics' Mother Ship Eve.
Dave (David) Mackay, former RAF test pilot, was in 2011 named chief pilot for Virgin Galactic, as well as in-house chief test-pilot.
The first line pilot, and second test pilot, was hired in 2011 for Virgin Galactic, Keith "Coma" Colmer, former USAF test pilot. He will also work in the test program with Scaled Composites.
Refining the projected schedule in October 2009, Virgin Galactic has continued to decline to announce a firm schedule for commercial flights, but did reiterate that initial flights would take place from Spaceport America
. Commercial availability will be based on a "safety-driven schedule," which they hope to achieve "within two years."
Scaled Composite's president Doug Shane has said WhiteKnight Two's first SpaceShipTwo captive flights will be in early 2010.
Both aircraft flew together in March 2010.
On December 7, 2009, SpaceShipTwo was unveiled at the Mojave Spaceport
.
to explore the potential for collaboration.
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
's Virgin Group
Virgin Group
Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...
which plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflight
Sub-orbital spaceflight
A sub-orbital space flight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it does not complete one orbital revolution....
s to the paying public, along with suborbital space science
Space science
The term space science may mean:* The study of issues specifically related to space travel and space exploration, including space medicine.* Science performed in outer space ....
missions and orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
al launches of small satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
s. Further in the future Virgin Galactic hopes to offer orbital human spaceflight
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...
s as well.
Spacecraft
Overview of the spacecraft flights
It is planned that the spacecraft will be robust and affordable enough to take paying passengers ($200,000 per person with a $20,000 deposit). , there are around 450 ticket-holders in line to fly with Virgin Galactic. The craft is projected to be a six passenger, two pilot craft. Its planned trajectory will overlap the Earth’s atmosphere at 70,000 feet (21,000 m), which will make it a sub-orbitalSub-orbital spaceflight
A sub-orbital space flight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it does not complete one orbital revolution....
journey with a short period of weightlessness. The spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo, will be carried to about 16 kilometers or 52000 ft by a carrier aircraft, White Knight II
Scaled Composites White Knight Two
The Scaled Composites Model 348 White Knight Two is a jet-powered cargo aircraft which will be used to launch the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft. It is being developed by Scaled Composites as the first stage of Tier 1b, a two-stage to suborbital-space manned launch system...
. At that point, when the carrier aircraft reaches its maximum height, the SpaceShipTwo vehicle will separate and continue to over 100 km (the Kármán line
Karman line
The Kármán line lies at an altitude of above the Earth's sea level, and is commonly used to define the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space...
, a common definition of where "space" begins). The time from liftoff of the White Knight booster carrying SpaceShipTwo until the touchdown of SpaceShipTwo after the sub-orbital flight will be about 3.5 hours. The sub-orbital flight itself will only be a small fraction of that time. The weightlessness will last approximately 6 minutes. Passengers will be able to release themselves from their seats during these 6 minutes and float around the cabin.
In addition to the sub-orbital passenger business, Virgin Galactic will market SpaceShipTwo for sub-orbital space science
Space science
The term space science may mean:* The study of issues specifically related to space travel and space exploration, including space medicine.* Science performed in outer space ....
missions and market WhiteKnightTwo for "small satellite" launch services. They plan to initiate RFPs
Request for Proposal
A request for proposal is issued at an early stage in a procurement process, where an invitation is presented for suppliers, often through a bidding process, to submit a proposal on a specific commodity or service. The RFP process brings structure to the procurement decision and is meant to...
for the satellite business in early 2010.
SpaceShipTwo's performance
SpaceShipTwo flies to a height of 110 km in order to go beyond the defined boundary of space (100 km) and lengthen the experience of weightlessness. The spacecraft reaches around Mach 3Mach number
Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...
(1000 m/s), which is faster than current fighter jets are capable of attaining; however, the spacecraft is not able to sustain that speed for long periods of time. It has double the crew (2) and can carry triple the passengers (6) of its predecessor. In honour of the science fiction series Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
, the first two ships are named after the fictional starships Enterprise and Voyager. To re-enter the atmosphere SpaceShipTwo folds its wings up, and then returns them to their original position for an unpowered descent flight back onto the runway. The craft has a very limited cross-range capability and until other planned spaceports are built worldwide, it has to land in the area where it started. Further "Spaceports" are planned in Dubai and elsewhere, with the intention that the spaceline will have a world-wide availability and commodity in the future.
SpaceShip Two
Sir Richard Branson unveiled the rocket plane on Monday 7 December 2009. SpaceShipTwo was presented to the world in the Mojave desert, in California. The vehicle underwent testing during the following 18 months before being allowed to take ticketed individuals on short-hop trips just above the atmosphere. Sir Richard Branson, who heads the Virgin Group, intends to run the first flights out of New Mexico before extending operations around the globe. Built from lightweight carbon composite materials and powered by a hybrid rocket motor, SS2 is based on the Ansari X PRIZEAnsari X Prize
The Ansari X Prize was a space competition in which the X Prize Foundation offered a US$10,000,000 prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks...
-winning SpaceShipOne concept - a rocket plane that is lifted initially by a carrier vehicle before blasting skywards. SS1 became the world's first private spaceship with a series of high-altitude flights in 2004.
Its successor, however, is twice as large, measuring 18 m (60 ft) in length. And whereas SpaceShipOne only had a single pilot (and the ballast equivalent of two passengers), SS2 will have a crew of two and room for six passengers. More than 400 individuals are reported to have signed up for a flight as of early 2011. Each is paying $200,000 (£121,000) for the privilege of experiencing approximately six minutes of weightlessness during what will be a two-hour end-to-end flight. Many of those future "astronauts" have attended the VIP unveiling at the Mojave Air and Spaceport. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson christened the spaceliner Virgin SpaceShip (VSS) Enterprise.
The New Mexico authorities are investing almost $200m (£121m) in a purpose-built facility in Upham, Spaceport America
Spaceport America
Spaceport America is a spaceport located in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin in New Mexico, United States. It lies north of El Paso, north of Las Cruces, east of Truth or Consequences...
. It will have a 3,000m (10,000 ft) runway and a suitably space-age terminal and hangar building designed by Foster and Partners. Sir Richard's Virgin Galactic enterprise will have competitors but he is almost certain to be the first to market, barring any problems arising in the test campaign. SpaceShipTwo's carrier plane is called WhiteKnightTwo. It was finished last year and has already begun its own trials.
The Spaceship Company
The Spaceship CompanyThe Spaceship Company
The Spaceship Company is a spacecraft manufacturing company formed by Burt Rutan and Richard Branson in mid-2005, jointly owned by Virgin Group and Scaled Composites, which will own the technology created by Scaled for Virgin Galactic's Virgin SpaceShip program...
(TSC) is a new aerospace production company, founded by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Scaled Composites, which is building a fleet of commercial spaceships and launch aircraft with the intention of making widespread space
travel a reality. TSC’s initial launch customer is Virgin Galactic, which has contracted to purchase five SpaceShipTwos and two WhiteKnightTwos. To meet Virgin Galactic’s requirements, TSC has contracted Scaled Composites to develop and build prototypes of WK2 and SS2, of which TSC started full-scale production in 2008.
Competition
There are numerous other companies actively working on commercial passenger suborbital spaceflight. Additionally, there are several others developing commercial manned orbital spaceflight capability (including some which are initially designed for, or may eventually be used for, commercial passenger spaceflight), which is a significantly more difficult problem than suborbital spaceflight.Fleet
, Virgin Galactic is planning to have a fleet of two White Knight Two motherships and five or more SpaceShipTwo tourist suborbital spacecraft.WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft: Virgin MotherShips
- VMS EveVMS EveVMS Eve is a carrier mothership for Virgin Galactic and launch platform for Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo-based Virgin SpaceShips....
- VMS Spirit of Steve Fossett
SpaceShipTwo suborbital spacecraft: Virgin SpaceShips
- VSS EnterpriseVSS EnterpriseThe VSS Enterprise is the first of five commercial suborbital spacecraft being constructed for Virgin Galactic by Scaled Composites....
- VSS VoyagerVSS VoyagerVSS Voyager is to be the second ship built and used as part of the Virgin Galactic Fleet. It is a SpaceShipTwo-class suborbital manned spaceplane...
- Not Yet Named
- Not Yet Named
- Not Yet Named
Base
Test launches are planned to take place from the Mojave SpaceportMojave Spaceport
thumb|right|235px|A retired [[Boeing 767-200]] that flew for [[Ansett Australia]] being cut open for scrap at Mojave AirportThe Mojave Air and Space Port , also known as the Civilian Aerospace Test Center, is located in Mojave, California, at an elevation of...
, where Scaled Composites
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...
is constructing the spacecraft. Virgin Galactic expects that initial passenger flights will take place there, as well.
An international architectural competition was held for the design of Virgin Galactic's operating base, Spaceport America
Spaceport America
Spaceport America is a spaceport located in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin in New Mexico, United States. It lies north of El Paso, north of Las Cruces, east of Truth or Consequences...
in New Mexico. The contract was awarded to URS and Foster + Partners architects. Upon the completion of the spaceport, flight operations will transfer from the California desert to the new bases.
Virgin Galactic also announced on April 3, 2008 that in the future they will operate in Europe out of Spaceport Sweden
Spaceport Sweden
Spaceport Sweden is a company that plans to make Kiruna the primary European Spaceport for personal suborbital spaceflight and space tourism. It's a co-operation between the Swedish Space Corporation, the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, LFV Group and Kiruna’s business-development company Progressum.The...
.
Will Whitehorn
Will Whitehorn
Will Whitehorn was, until recently, the President of Virgin Galactic, a company which plans to offer space tourism flights to the paying public.-Biography:Whitehorn was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe...
stated in an interview with Space.co.uk on 29 April 2008 that the company was considering flying from a UK base: RAF Lossiemouth
RAF Lossiemouth
RAF Lossiemouth is a Royal Air Force station to the west of the town of Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland. It is one of the RAF's biggest bases and is currently Britain's main base for Tornado GR4s. From 2013 the Northern QRA force of Typhoon F2 will relocate to Lossiemouth following the closure of...
in Scotland, during the summer months only. There are also rumours that the base could be located in RAF Machrihanish
RAF Machrihanish
RAF Machrihanish is a former Royal Air Force station located west of Campbeltown at the tip of Kintyre. It is now known as MoD Machrihanish and also incorporates Campbeltown Airport which has commercial flights to Glasgow, operated by Loganair....
(Campbeltown, Scotland) or an unnamed location in south-west England.
In October 2010, the company held an event at Spaceport America where it ceremoniously opened the first runway. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson attended the ceremony, and SpaceShipTwo, also known as the "VSS Enterprise," was landed during the event. For the landing, the VSS Enterprise was carried underneath the fuselage of Virgin Galactics' Mother Ship Eve.
Corporate
Virgin Galactic's typeface was custom designed for the venture in 2006 by Dalton Maag and GBH. It is called the "Elevon" font.Dave (David) Mackay, former RAF test pilot, was in 2011 named chief pilot for Virgin Galactic, as well as in-house chief test-pilot.
The first line pilot, and second test pilot, was hired in 2011 for Virgin Galactic, Keith "Coma" Colmer, former USAF test pilot. He will also work in the test program with Scaled Composites.
Commencement of space flights
Will Whitehorn, until recently president of Virgin Galactic, stated that the company would "not put a definite timeline on when the commercial flights would begin" but that "all was on track with its development plans" and that "If all goes to plan", the inaugural sub-orbital flight should happen "within two years [of June 2009]".Refining the projected schedule in October 2009, Virgin Galactic has continued to decline to announce a firm schedule for commercial flights, but did reiterate that initial flights would take place from Spaceport America
Spaceport America
Spaceport America is a spaceport located in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin in New Mexico, United States. It lies north of El Paso, north of Las Cruces, east of Truth or Consequences...
. Commercial availability will be based on a "safety-driven schedule," which they hope to achieve "within two years."
Scaled Composite's president Doug Shane has said WhiteKnight Two's first SpaceShipTwo captive flights will be in early 2010.
Both aircraft flew together in March 2010.
On December 7, 2009, SpaceShipTwo was unveiled at the Mojave Spaceport
Mojave Spaceport
thumb|right|235px|A retired [[Boeing 767-200]] that flew for [[Ansett Australia]] being cut open for scrap at Mojave AirportThe Mojave Air and Space Port , also known as the Civilian Aerospace Test Center, is located in Mojave, California, at an elevation of...
.
Collaboration with NASA
In February 2007, officials from Virgin and NASA signed a memorandum of understandingMemorandum of understanding
A memorandum of understanding is a document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action. It is often used in cases where parties either do not imply a legal commitment or in...
to explore the potential for collaboration.
External links
- The Spaceship Company
- Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Mothership Makes Maiden Flight
- Virgin Galactic
- Virgin Galactic:Let the Journey Begin (Video)
- Branson And Rutan Launch New Spaceship Manufacturing Company
- U.S. Okays Virgin Galactic Spaceship Plans
- New Mexico Spaceport Bills Signed
- Lloyds Eyes Covering Virgin Spaceflights
- Virgin Galactic Rolls Out Mothership "Eve“
- An interview on www.astrotalkuk.org with Nigel Henbest who has booked and is due to fly in about 2013