SpaceShipTwo in its first powered flight over Mojave.

Sparks, NV, April 29, 2013 (SNC PR) – Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Space Systems is proud to announce that its Hybrid Rocket Motor propelled Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2) sub-orbital vehicle on its first ever powered flight. SNC’s hybrid propulsion system is the largest hybrid ever used for space vehicle propulsion.

SNC manufactures two major subsystems on the SpaceShipTwo vehicle including the main oxidizer valve and the hybrid rocket motor, plus nitrous oxide dump system and nitrous oxide pressurization system control valves.

Upon reaching 47,000 feet altitude and approximately 45 minutes into the flight, SS2 was released from the WhiteKnightTwo carrier plane. After cross-checking data and verifying stable control, the pilots triggered ignition of the rocket motor, causing the main oxidizer valve to open and igniters to fire within the fuel case. At this point, SS2 was propelled forward and upward to a maximum altitude of 55,000 feet. The entire engine burn lasted 16 seconds, as planned. During this time, SS2 went supersonic, achieving Mach 1.2.

“The rocket motor ignition went as planned, with the expected burn duration, good engine performance and solid vehicle handling qualities throughout,” said Virgin Galactic president and CEO George Whitesides. “The successful outcome of this test marks a pivotal point for our program. We will now embark on a handful of similar powered flight tests, and then make our first test flight to space.”

SNC’s hybrid rocket systems offer a safe, high performing, and non-toxic alternative to solid and hydrazine liquid propulsion systems. As the rocket motor fuel is industrial rubber, there are no special handling or transportation requirements, thereby greatly reducing the lifecycle cost to our customers.

“I am enormously proud of our team and motor, thrilled to be part of space history, thankful to be in a country where such entrepreneurship is possible and humbled to be part of the dawn of the next era of flight,” said Mark Sirangelo, head of SNC’s Space Systems.

“This first powered flight test marks a historic day on the path to commercial passenger space flight. SNC’s Space Systems is proud to be a part of that success and proves that SNC’s safe, non-toxic hybrid propulsion systems can be scaled to meet the needs of many applications,” said Michael Borck, SNC’s director of programs.

The hybrid rocket motor and the oxidizer valve system are produced in SNC’s high rate manufacturing facility located in Poway, Calif., in conjunction with Scaled Composites of Mojave, Cali. This location is currently producing motors for both SpaceShipTwo and SNC’s own Dream Chaser orbital crew vehicle.

For more information about Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo program visit www.virgingalactic.com/

About Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Space Systems

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Space Systems business area headquartered in Louisville, Colo., designs and manufactures advanced spacecraft, space vehicles, rocket motors and spacecraft subsystems and components for the US Government, commercial customers as well as for the international market. SNC’s Space Systems has more than 25 years of space heritage in space and has participated in over 400 successful space missions through the delivery of over 4,000 systems, subsystems and components. During its history, SNC’s Space Systems has concluded over 70 programs for NASA and over 50 other clients. For more information about SS visit www.sncspace.com.

About Sierra Nevada Corporation

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), headquartered in Sparks, Nev., is one of America’s fastest growing private companies based on its significant expansion and reputation for rapid, innovative, and agile technology solutions in electronics, aerospace, avionics, space, propulsion, micro-satellite, aircraft, communications systems and solar energy. Under the leadership of CEO Fatih Ozmen and President Eren Ozmen, SNC employs over 2,500 people in 30 locations in 16 states. SNC’s six unique business areas are dedicated to providing leading-edge solutions to SNC’s dynamic customer base.

SNC is also the Top Woman-Owned Federal Contractor in the United States. Over the last 30 years under the Ozmen’s leadership, SNC has remained focused on providing its customers the very best in diversified technologies to meet their needs and has a strong and proven track record of success. The company continues to focus its growth on the commercial sector through internal advancements and outside acquisitions, including the emerging markets of renewable energy, telemedicine, nanotechnology, cyber and net-centric operations. For more information on SNC visit www.sncorp.com.

Video Caption: Andaaz goes to the Mojave Space Port in Southern California to talk with Virgin Galactic. Space tourism is now a reality. Will you choose to go where only few have gone before?

Check out this amazing interview with George T Whitesides, CEO and President of Virgin Galactic, right here on Andaaz!

Check out the full show.

SpaceShipTwo’s rocket motor kicks up a little dust during a hot fire on March 30, 2013. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)

The rumor mill in Mojave has it that we will be seeing the first powered test flight of Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo by the end of this month. One specific date that has been rumored is April 22, which would have marked the 69th birthday of the late businessman and adventurer Steve Fossett.

In 2005, Fossett set an aviation record by flying the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer around the world solo without stopping or refueling. That aircraft was built in Mojave by Scaled Composites, the developer of SpaceShipTwo, and backed by the Virgin Group, the company building SpaceShipTwo. Flying the space plane under power on his birthday would be a poignant tribute to Fossett, who died in a plane crash in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains two years after making his solo around-the-world flight.

Meeting that deadline would be tight, but possible. SpaceShipTwo completed the second of three planned glide flights with the engine installed on Wednesday. A third flight would be necessary in the coming weeks with a quick turnaround for a powered test.

Virgin Galactic CEO and President George Whitesides has said the powered flight program will involve firing the ship’s engine for increasingly longer periods of time, culminating in a suborbital flight into space above 100 km (62.5 miles).  The company hopes to fly that mission by the end of the year, with commercial flights beginning out Spaceport America in New Mexico in 2014.

The legislation requires special approval of the General Land Office for any launch dates on:

• the Saturday or Sunday preceding Memorial Day;
• Memorial Day
• July 4
• Labor Day
• a Saturday after Memorial Day but before Labor
  Day; or
• a Sunday after Memorial Day but before Labor Day.

Over in New Mexico a revision of the state’s spaceflight informed consent law passed a key hurdle when the Senate Public Affairs Committee approved the House version of the legislation.

Both houses passed identical bills by unanimous margins, but each half must approve both bills before the measure is sent to Gov. Susana Martinez for signature.

The Senate action occurred a day after Gov. Martinez and Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides urged legislators to finish work on the measure. The legislative session ends on March 16.

RocketMotorTwo firing in Mojave. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)

At a luncheon with business leaders on Tuesday, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides urged state legislators to complete work on an informed consent law designed to protect the space company from lawsuits.

Whitesides also laid out a schedule for powered flights of SpaceShipTwo that has the vehicle flying into space by the end of the year. The appearance coincided with the release of a picture showing the latest test firing of the rocket’s hybrid motor in Mojave, Calif.

The legislative holdup appears to be a minor one. Identical measures providing greater liability protections for Virgin Galactic and its suppliers in the event that passengers are injured or killed passed both the House and the Senate unanimously. Each bill was then sent to the other chamber for approval, with a single one to be forwarded to the governor for her signature.

Whitesides told business leaders that Virgin Galactic hopes to fly into space by the end of the year, with commercial flights from New Mexico in 2014.

“We’ve been releasing it and letting it glide to Earth,” Whitesides said. “Now we’ll start to release it and fire the rocket motor. We’ll burn it for longer and longer on each test to go faster and higher until we do a space shot. We hope to get there before the end of the year, if not before.”

…Meanwhile, Whitesides said the company is working with the New Mexico Spaceport Authority to ready the facility for commercial operations, which are expected to begin early next year, shortly after rocket-powered test flights conclude in late 2013.

“At most, I think we’re talking a few months” after test flights conclude, Whitesides told the Journal.

Whitesides also said that Virgin Galactic and the New Mexico Spaceport Authority are working in good faith to resolve a “laundry list” of issues relating to Spaceport America.

Virgin Galactic began paying rent on the facility in February under protest, saying there were a number of unfinished items at the $209 million, taxpayer funded facility. The company gave New Mexico until the end of March to fix the problems or it would stop paying rent, pay a reduced rent, or pull out of the 20-year lease.

On Tuesday, Virgin Galactic released a photograph of the latest test firing of the SpaceShipTwo’s propulsion system. Officials have described the hot fire, which reportedly ran about 45 seconds, as the first in a series of qualification tests prior to the start of powered flights later this year.

Editor’s Note: Well, there you have the argument in a nutshell: New Mexico has fallen behind Florida and Texas in the race to restrict the rights of passengers and their heirs to sue Virgin Galactic and other companies for injuries and deaths from spaceflights. If they don’t catch up, their $209 million investment could be for naught. And all this is happening even before the first SpaceShipTwo flight has taken off from Spaceport America.

Still, this controversy has shed a light on spaceflight informed consent laws, which have largely sailed through various state legislatures without much debate or discussion. I guess we can thank (or curse, depending upon one’s point of view) New Mexico’s trial lawyers for standing up to efforts to expand the state’s existing law to cover manufacturers and suppliers, and to weaken the already limited protections afforded injured or dead passengers and their heirs.

The basic aim of informed consent laws, to put it plainly, is to make sure that the companies will survive even if some of their passengers do not. Spaceflight is an inherently dangerous business, the argument goes. Companies could be sued out of existence without being protected from legal action except in cases of gross negligence and intentional harm. Death by lawsuits, if you will.

Trial lawyers say that these laws go too far in protecting corporations at the expense of the right of individuals to have their day in court. No single industry should be given such broad protections even if the activity involved is dangerous, they argue. And the serious of lawsuits will keep companies on their toes.

The informed consent regime leaves many questions. How will it actually work? These first-generation vehicles are new, so no one — including the manufacturers, suppliers and operators, who will understand the risks a lot better than the everyone else — will be able to say precisely how dangerous they are at the beginning. So, how informed will passengers be in dealing with such unquantifiable risks?

It seemed perfectly safe to put a school teacher on a space shuttle after 24 successful flights. It took all of 72 seconds to shatter that illusion on a frigid Florida morning. To the public, 24 flights sounded like a lot, enough to verify the safety of the system. But, in flight it is not a very large number. Especially for a vehicle as complex as the space shuttle.

In the aftermath of Challenger, investigators found that if it wasn’t the O-ring, some other flaw would have destroyed a shuttle some day. As one eventually did. The shuttle system was riddled with such traps. Will the same thing happen again with commercial space? Or will the vehicles be safer because they are simpler and put through a much more rigorous flight test regime?

People argue that commercial space companies will have an incentive to be safe because if they are not, they will go out of business. Fair enough. But, did NASA have any less of an incentive in protecting its crews because it was a government agency? Did NASA personnel somehow care less? Did they not likewise fear the consequences of a fatal accident to the astronauts, to the agency, to themselves? Was their dedication to the cause of space exploration any less than the employees at the commercial companies that are now following in their footsteps?

I don’t think so. It is largely forgotten now, but at the time of Challenger, NASA was under a lot of pressure to meet a flight schedule that was utterly unrealistic. They just didn’t know just how unrealistic it was yet. Will commercial or competitive pressures undermine safety in this new commercial industry? If they do, how does the law treat that?

In  other words, just how gross does gross negligence have to be for injured parties to successful sue? That will be a difficult question to answer until someone actually does it. The balance between plaintiff and defendant could be key. In Virgin Galactic, plaintiffs will be going up against a massive multinational company with deep legal resources. Will the injured parties be outgunned? Or do we assume they will be wealthy enough to press their case? And that their lawyers will be chomping at the bit to go after a company with such deep pockets?

Of course, not all companies will be as wealthy. The informed consent measures cover much smaller firms that lack the legal resources of Richard Branson. So, there are broader interests of an emerging and potentially lucrative industry to consider.

And not all spaceflight passengers will be millionauts and billionauts. Will they and their heirs be able to wage a long legal fight if they feel that gross negligence was involved?

Finally, there’s a disparity between the informed consent waivers and how some companies are marketing flights and selling tickets. There are no laws regulating what claims companies can make about the safety of their vehicles even as they are requiring clients to sign strict liability waivers that partially absolve them of liability. Will the sales pitches create a false sense of security, a feeling that the waivers are just a legal formality required to fly on systems that are fundamentally safe?

Informed consent laws represent a success story for the commercial space industry. They have now become the de facto standard, and they have now reached a level that New Mexico — a pioneer in the field, which committed to spending $209 million in taxpayers money on Spaceport America before an industry even existed, and passed an informed consent law before anyone else — risks being left behind because its law doesn’t go far enough in protecting companies.

Irony, thy name is Spaceport America.

There’s always a bit of a risk in getting exactly what one wants. It goes without saying that commercial space companies cannot afford the reputation of being unsafe. But, if they also develop the reputation of being both unsafe and legally untouchable due to overly strict informed consent laws, people will really start to hate them. They will become as popular as bankers. Or the railroad barons of old.

However, unlike those other two hated professions, people can avoid dealing with commercial space companies. There’s no pressing need for anyone to fly 100 kilometers up and return to the same spaceport they just left.

Early railroads and airlines provided valuable and faster point-to-point transportation for both passengers and cargo. These industries could grow and mature alongside existing systems, some of which were not a whole lot safer. Suborbital spaceflight providers do not have the same luxury, which makes them especially vulnerable to bad days.

Supporters of extending the informed consent law say that the legislation is cost free for New Mexico. If SpaceShipTwo crashes into your house, you can sue for damages. Or your survivors or landlord can if you don’t survive. And that’s true. But, not all costs can be measured in monetary terms.

New Mexico’s legislators are faced with a series of fundamentally moral questions involving life and death. Are these protections so necessary for the development of a vital new industry that they justify the curtailment of individual liberties? Or is this a race to the bottom where companies play states off each other to their own advantage? How much risk does one shift to passengers who have no control over the vehicles they ride in? Does protecting the need for taxpayers to get a return on their investment in Spaceport America trump other considerations?

These are not easy questions to answer. I don’t envy them their decision.

“The state of New Mexico and its taxpayers have made a huge investment in commercial space and in order to protect that investment, it needs to remain in relative parity with other states,” Whitesides said.

“The fact is that the current situation will keep companies from locating in New Mexico and at the spaceport. The bills would change that and would really open the door to new business,” he said.

Asked if Virgin Galactic would re-locate to another state if the bill didn’t pass, Whitesides said the company intends to stay in New Mexico but said the state’s spaceport must recruit additional companies if its going to remain successful.

Whitesides made his remarks at a gathering of the Albuquerque Economic Forum. He urged business leaders to tell state legislators to approve revisions to New Mexico’s informed consent law that requires passengers to sign a statement acknowledging the risks of spaceflight before flying.

The current law provides broad protections against lawsuits to spaceflight operators such as Virgin Galactic in the event of injuries and deaths. Virgin Galactic wants the law extended to its own spacecraft manufacturing operations and its suppliers.

House and Senate legislators are now considering identical bills that would expand the protection and further limit the circumstances under which injured parties could sue. Two previous legislative efforts have failed due to opposition from New Mexico trial lawyers.

Both Virgin Galactic and New Mexico Spaceport Authority officials have stressed the need to attract other tenants to the $209 million, taxpayer-funded spaceport in order to cover operating costs at the remote facility.

While Whitesides has been talking about Virgin Galactic’s intention to stay in New Mexico, others have been warning that failure to pass the legislation could result in the company pulling out and relocating to another state. The Save Our Spaceport (SOS) Coalition has been quite explicit in its warning, as have NMSA and state officials.

If Virgin Galactic pulls out of New Mexico, Spaceport, the effect would be catastrophic, said Christine Anderson, Spaceport America’s executive director.

“They are our anchor tenant,” she said. “Our business plan is modeled after having them there paying rent money for the terminal hangar facility, which is $1 million a year, as well as every flight they fly out of Spaceport America, we get a certain amount on revenue from that.

“If all that revenue went away, we’d have to seriously look at the viability of the Spaceport.”

Anderson said the state would only be able to recover about $2 million of its $209 million investment….

Gov. Susana Martinez has made passing the liability law and saving the spaceport one of her top priorities this session, a far cry from her early skepticism of the project.

“The spaceport is built,” said Keith Gardner, Martinez’s chief of staff. “You can’t tear it down and refund the taxpayers.”

Some lawmakers seem resigned to the passage of the legislation.

“Granted if (they’re) holding us hostage, that’s unfortunate, but sometimes you have to pay the ransom,” said state Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque.

The 60′day legislative session began on Tuesday.

Video Caption: Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo made its Farnborough air show debut. Aviation Week talks to George Whitesides, Virgin Galactic’s president, about the program.

LauncherOne. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)

Summary

• WhiteKnightTwo launched rocket will delivery 500 pounds (225 kg.) to LEO for less than $10 million by 2016
• Customers include Spaceflight Services, Planetary Resources, Skybox Imaging, and GeoOptics Inc.
• Surrey  Satellite Technology and Sierra Nevada Corporation to create spacecraft optimized for LauncherOne
• SpaceShipTwo to begin powered flights by end of this year
• Virgin has deposits from 529 clients for suborbital spaceflights

FARNBOROUGH, UNITED KINGDOM (VG PR) – Today during the Farnborough International Air Show 2012, Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline, announced “LauncherOne,” a new air-launched rocket specifically designed to deliver small satellites into orbit. With substantial funding already raised from Virgin Galactic’s partner aabar Investments PJS, and with commercial flights of this new orbital launch vehicle expected to begin by 2016, Virgin Galactic aims to offer frequent and dedicated launches at the world’s lowest prices. Virgin Galactic also announced that four private companies have already put down deposits as future LauncherOne customers, expressing their intent to purchase a total of several dozen launches, which would exceed the level of early commitment of any previous new launch vehicle.

At the same event, Virgin Galactic Founder Sir Richard Branson revealed that the company has now accepted deposits for suborbital flights on SpaceShipTwo from 529 future astronauts, a number greater than the total count of people who have been to space throughout human history. This news comes following a flurry of recent test activity and confirmation that all major components of SpaceShipTwo’s rocket system have been qualified for powered flight, on track to begin before the year’s end.

“Virgin Galactic’s goal is to revolutionize the way we get to space,” Branson said. “I’m immensely proud of what we have already achieved as we draw near to regular suborbital flights on SpaceShipTwo. Now, LauncherOne is bringing the price of satellite launch into the realm of affordability for innovators everywhere, from start-ups and schools to established companies and national space agencies. It will be a critical new tool for the global research community, enabling us all to learn about our home planet more quickly and affordably.”

Illustration of WhiteKnightTwo with LauncherOne. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)

LauncherOne will be a two-stage vehicle capable of carrying up to 500 pounds (225 kilograms) to orbit for prices below $10 million. The rocket will be launched from Virgin Galactic’s proven WhiteKnightTwo, the uniquely capable aircraft also designed to carry SpaceShipTwo aloft to begin her suborbital missions. Thanks to the extreme flexibility of air launch, Virgin Galactic’s customers will enjoy reduced infrastructure costs in addition to the wide range of possible launch locations tailored to individual mission requirements and weather conditions. Branson and other senior executives announced that work has already begun on the vehicle.

“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. “This development promises to redefine the small satellite market and to promote new research and education opportunities. aabar is proud to be partnering in this exciting journey by continuing to support Virgin Galactic and its initiatives.”

Several LauncherOne customers were recognized at the event, representing a broad range of commercial satellite applications. Those named were Skybox Imaging (Skybox), a Silicon Valley-based firm that recently announced it has raised $91 million for a high resolution imaging constellation; GeoOptics Inc., a U.S.-based company developing a constellation of non-imaging remote sensing satellites; Spaceflight, Inc., the aggregator and integrator of small satellites; and Planetary Resources, Inc., the newly-announced, billionaire-backed asteroid mining venture.

Speaking at the event, Skybox CEO Tom Ingersoll said, “Skybox’s objective is to provide world-class, affordable access to space imagery and information, and in order to do so, we need world-class, affordable access to space. Virgin Galactic is unique in having the right mix of ingredients to support our vision, as well as that of the growing small satellite community. We plan to make full use of LauncherOne.”

Also today, two world leaders in small satellite manufacturing, Surrey Satellite Technology and Sierra Nevada Space Systems, announced that they would create optimized satellite designs to match LauncherOne’s performance specifications. These optimized designs will allow customers to maximize the capability and minimize the time to market for their satellites. Sir Martin Sweeting, the founder of Surrey Satellite, spoke at the event about the growing potential of the small satellite industry.

“Small satellite launch is an area ripe for disruption,” said Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides. “Miniaturized satellite components and constrained budgets are driving commercial clients, academic users and government agencies all to clamor for an affordable, dedicated launch vehicle. Now, thanks to aabar’s investment, our existing capabilities, and the expert team we’ve already assembled, we’re prepared to fill that void by bringing LauncherOne to market.”

ABOUT VIRGIN GALACTIC

Virgin Galactic, owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and aabar Investments PJS, is the world’s first commercial spaceline, dedicated to revolutionizing space access. Virgin Galactic will carry people and payloads to space on suborbital flights allowing an out-of-the-seat zero-gravity experience, offering astounding views of the planet from the black sky of space, and conferring astronaut status to those on board. The carrier craft (“WhiteKnightTwo”) and space vehicle (“SpaceShipTwo”) were both custom-designed by Scaled Composites and closely based on Scaled’s legendary SpaceShipOne, the Burt Rutan-designed vehicle that in 2004 claimed the $10 million Ansari X Prize as the world’s first privately developed manned spacecraft.

The test flight program for both SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo is well underway, and Virgin Galactic is preparing for commercial operations, which will be based at Spaceport America in New Mexico. Already, more future astronauts have paid deposits for flights on SpaceShipTwo than have been to space throughout all of human history. Virgin Galactic’s sister enterprise The Spaceship Company, a joint venture between Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites, is now manufacturing additional sets of the Scaled vehicles. Virgin Galactic is also designing “LauncherOne,” a new air-launched rocket specifically developed to deliver small satellites into orbit. With commercial flights of LauncherOne expected to begin as early as 2016, Virgin Galactic aims to offer frequent and dedicated launches at the world’s lowest prices, transforming the growing small satellite market.

ABOUT AABAR INVESTMENTS PJS

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, aabar Investments PJS invests in various sectors including infrastructure, aviation, real estate, automotive, commodities, energy and financial services. IPIC acquired a stake in aabar in 2008 and has since progressively increased its stake to the current level of 95%. Since IPIC’s initial investment, aabar has made numerous investments including stakes in Daimler AG, Falcon Private Bank Ltd., Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Limited, UniCredit S.p.A., Galactic Ventures LLC, XOJET, Inc., Glencore International plc and a portfolio of real estate projects.

SpaceShipTwo glides to a landing during a test flight on June 26. (Credit: Virgin Galactic/Chris Van Pelt)

MOJAVE, Calif. (VG PR) – Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline, today announced that its passenger-carrying suborbital space vehicle, SpaceShipTwo (SS2), successfully completed its first glide flight test on June 26 since a recent integration period for rocket motor systems and maintenance. Also, on June 26, the spaceship’s engine, RocketMotorTwo (RM2), underwent another successful full duration test fire, marking the first time the company and its partners have undertaken test flight and test firing on the same day. Both milestones prime Virgin Galactic to reach powered flight by the end of the year.

SpaceShipTwo during a June 26 glide flight. (Credit: Virgin Galactic/Chris Van Pelt)

“Since receiving an experimental launch permit from the Federal Aviation Administration in May for SpaceShipTwo and its carrier vehicle, WhiteKnightTwo, there has been a rapid escalation of test activity,” said George Whitesides, CEO and president of Virgin Galactic. “In that timeframe, we’ve had seven successful test flights and three full-scale rocket motor tests. We are on track for powered flight by the end of 2012.”

The glide flight was performed by Scaled Composites, the prime contractor for the spaceflight system. To perform the flight, SS2 was air-released from WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) at an altitude of 51,000 feet. At the SS2 controls were Scaled pilots Pete Siebold and Mike Alsbury. In the carrier aircraft were Scaled test pilot Mark Stucky and David Mackay, Virgin Galactic’s Chief Pilot. Flying in the chase plane for the test were Mike Melvill, who piloted the first private flight to space, and Virgin Galactic pilot Keith Colmer.

(Credit: Virgin Galactic/Chris Van Pelt)

The rocket motor firing was performed by Sierra Nevada Space Systems, the prime contractor for the RM2 system. The 55-second test was the thirteenth full-scale flight design RM2 hot fire. All objectives were completed. In addition to this test, on June 20 a full-scale RM2 test firing took place for the first time at Scaled Composites’ test site in Mojave, Calif., under full direction of the spaceship’s Rocket Motor Controller. This firing provided an end-to-end test of the rocket motor systems – a critical step in preparation for powered flight.

This intense period of activity comes just weeks before Virgin Galactic, along with its Mojave-based sister manufacturing organization, The Spaceship Company, will gather customers and VIPs at the Farnborough International Air Show 2012. Guests will attend a special briefing from company founder Sir Richard Branson and other company executives.

WhiteKnightTwo after releasing SpaceShipTwo over the Mojave. (Credit: Virgin Galactic/Chris Van Pelt)

RocketMotorTwo Hot Fire Test Summary
(Via Scaled Composites)

Fire: 13
Date: 26 Jun 12

Objectives:
Thirteenth full scale flight design RM2 hot-fire.
Continued evaluation of all systems and components:
- Pressurization
- Valve/Injector
- Fuel formulation and geometry
- Nozzle
- Structure
- Performance

Results:
All objectives completed. Performed targeted 55 second hot fire as planned. Duration of burn chosen to allow examination of internal geometry.

Editor’s Note:  Well, the test firing last week was an RM2 motor, despite the failure to specifically say so in the test summary. Looks like I got that one wrong.

RocketMotorTwo test firing. (Courtesy Beverly S. Rother)

CORRECTION:  Virgin Galactic says this test did involve RocketMotorTwo. I regret the error.

By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor

The engine hot fire done at Scaled Composites test site at the Mojave Air and Space Port on Wednesday does not appear to have involved the RocketMotorTwo that will be used on the SpaceShipTwo suborbital tourism vehicle, a careful reading of the test summary reveals.

The summary for Hot Fire No. 12 on the Scaled Composites “RocketMotorTwo Hot-Fire Test Summaries” page says it was the “first full scale firing of a rocket motor at Scaled’s test site under full control of the spaceship’s Rocket Motor Controller (RMC).” [Emphasis mine].

Each of the previous 11 test entries on the page includes the phrase “full scale flight design RM2 hot-fire.” That phrase is absent from the summary for the brief test on Wednesday, which is reproduced below.

Fire: 12
Date: 20 June 12

Objectives:
Perform first full scale rocket motor hot-fire at Scaled’s test facility
Test stand evaluation
Data Acquisition system evaluation
Rocket Motor Controller performance
Pressurization System Controller performance
Rocket system performance
Valve / Injector / Igniter evaluation
Fuel formulation evaluation
CTN structural evaluation

Results:
First full scale firing of a rocket motor at Scaled’s test site under full control of the spaceship’s Rocket Motor Controller (RMC). All objectives achieved. The difference between Scaled’s site and SNC’s site at Lakeside is the focus on using SS2 flight vehicle hardware. These tests provide an end to end test of all the vehicle’s rocket motor systems and additional confidence before committing the vehicle to powered flight test.

It’s unclear precisely what was fired earlier this week. My best guess is that the test was of a smaller “starter” engine that Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides mentioned recently. He said the company expected to begin powered flights with the motor toward the end of the year. Depending upon how the flights go, commercial service would hopefully begin with the full motor at the end of 2013.

How realistic that scenario is has been the subject of much discussion in Mojave. It is well known that engineers have faced serious difficulties in scaling up the hybrid engine used on SpaceShipOne for its much larger successor. A major problem they have had to overcome is severe oscillations during the hot firings. Many believe the big engine remains problematic.

There are also multiple reports of a parallel liquid-fuel engine development program to replace the hybrid. Those reports have been difficult to pin down with exact certainty. What changes, if any, such a move would require in SpaceShipTwo’s design and how it would affect the test schedule are uncertain.

Established in their new location at the LEED-certified Green Offices Building, Virgin Galactic will bring new employment opportunities to the region, with plans to fill several positions in diverse roles as the company ramps up for commercial operations at Spaceport America.

“Virgin Galactic is proud to be a contributor to the New Mexico economy and the local community,” said George Whitesides, President and CEO of Virgin Galactic. “As we open our new offices and expand our team here, we intend to help create new opportunity through hospitality and tourism that will feature New Mexico on an international stage.”

The new office opening is the latest milestone for the company’s growing presence in New Mexico. In October 2010, the company brought more than 70 high-end travel agents from around the world to learn about the areas surrounding Spaceport America. In October 2011, Virgin Galactic held an event for over 600 media, customers and VIPs to commemorate the dedication of the Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space Building. In addition to the spin-off economic benefits for local sectors, such as accommodation, catering and transportation, these events also showcased the region to a global audience, and Virgin Galactic’s travel agents continue to promote the area.

A recent survey undertaken by Virgin Galactic found that more than 50 percent of Virgin Galactic’s astronauts have already visited southern New Mexico and averaged a stay of three to five nights between Dona Ana and Sierra Counties. The survey also showed that when Virgin Galactic customers visit New Mexico to undertake their spaceflights from Spaceport America, they intend to each bring an average of five guests with them to share their spaceflight experience.

In other Virgin Galactic news, last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that Virgin Galactic’s vehicle developer, Scaled Composites, has been granted an experimental launch permit for the suborbital spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo, and the carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo, thus giving the green light for the project’s next major milestone: powered test flights. “This important milestone enables our team to progress to the rocket-powered phase of test flight, bringing us a major step closer to bringing our customers to space,” said Whitesides.

Already, SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo have made significant progress in their flight test program. With 80 test flights completed, WhiteKnightTwo is substantially through its test plan, while the more recently constructed SpaceShipTwo has safely completed sixteen free flights, including three that tested the vehicle’s unique “feathering” re-entry system. Additionally, ten test firings of the full scale SpaceShipTwo rocket motor, including full duration burns, have been safely and successfully completed.

SpaceShipTwo glides downward on its first test flight. (Photo: Mark Greenberg)

MOJAVE, Calif. – May 30, 2012 (VG PR) — 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 to the rocket-powered phase of test flight, bringing us a major step closer to bringing our customers to space,” said George Whitesides, president and CEO of Virgin Galactic.  “We thank the FAA for their timely issuance of this permit, and for their responsible oversight of the test program.”

Already, SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo have made significant progress in their flight test program. With 80 test flights completed, WhiteKnightTwo is substantially through its test plan, while the more recently constructed SpaceShipTwo has safely completed sixteen free flights, including three that tested the vehicle’s unique “feathering” re-entry system.  Additionally, ten test firings of the full scale SpaceShipTwo rocket motor, including full duration burns, have been safely and successfully completed.

With this permit now in hand, Scaled is now authorized to press onward towards rocket-powered test flights. In preparation for those powered flights, SpaceShipTwo will soon return to flight, testing the aerodynamic performance of the spacecraft with the full weight of the rocket motor system on board.  Integration of key rocket motor components, already begun during a now-concluding period of downtime for routine maintenance, will continue into the autumn.  Scaled expects to begin rocket powered, supersonic flights under the just-issued experimental permit toward the end of the year.

“The Spaceship program is making steady progress, and we are all looking forward to lighting the vehicle’s rocket engine in flight for the first time,” said Doug Shane, president of Scaled.

Although a handful of experimental launch permits have been granted to other rockets, SpaceShipTwo is the first rocket-powered vehicle that carries humans on board to receive such a permit.  SpaceShipOne, the manned spaceship successfully flown to space in 2004 and the basis for the design of SpaceShipTwo, flew before the Experimental Permit regulatory regime was established.

The FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation issues permits after it has determined that the vehicle operator has taken the appropriate steps to protect the public during testing. Permitees must submit detailed plans for vehicle design and operation in order to ensure that all possible scenarios have been addressed.

Last Thursday the Wall Street Journal (via Zawya Dow Jones) reported from Doha, Qatar, that SpaceShipTwo engine development was nearly complete. “Within a month or two, we expect we’ll have an engine we can put in the [spacecraft] vehicle,” Virgin Galactic president and CEO George Whitesides said. That would put them on a path towards beginning powered flight tests by late this year and beginning commercial service by the end of this year. (In a brief conversation Saturday in Washington, where he was on a panel at the USA Science and Engineering Festival, Whitesides told me that the motor that will be ready for SpaceShipTwo soon will be a “starter” motor for short-duration powered tests, not the full motor.) [My emphasis]

Really? Seven and a half years after launching the program, they only have a “starter” motor for short duration test flights that will begin at the end of the year. On what basis does that give Virgin confidence that they can start commercial service by the end of 2013? I don’t get it.

In fairness, Whitesides did qualify his remarks. He told The Wall Street Journal said they nearly finished developing “an engine,” not “the engine”. And he said they “hope” Virgin Galactic can fly commercially by the end of 2013.

“I think we’re nearly there,” said Whitesides, a former NASA chief of staff. “Within a month or two, we expect we’ll have an engine we can put in the [spacecraft] vehicle.”

“We would carry on that powered flight testing into 2013 for several months leading, eventually we hope, to the start of commercial operations towards the end of 2013,” he added. [My emphasis]

We’ll see what happens.

Sarah Brightman. (Credit: Eckhard Pecher)

Virgin United PR – Virgin Galactic, the world’s first spaceline, and the Virgin Group’s not-for-profit Virgin Unite have come together to announce the Galactic Unite STEM Scholarship Program.

Virgin Galactic Future Astronauts Jann Bytheway and Global recording artist/UNESCO Artist for Peace Ambassador Sarah Brightman have, by generous donations, created the Galactic Unite STEM Scholarship Program, which will be managed through a partnership with UNCF (United Negro College Fund), one of the nation’s largest private providers of minority scholarships.

The Bytheway and Brightman STEM Scholarship Program will help young females in the US pursue STEM education throughout their four-year college career, providing a much needed boost to the current participation of females in this area. The first scholarships will be awarded this fall. The application deadline is May 31, 2012.

To apply for Galactic Unite Bytheway Scholarship, please visit www.uncf.org/galactic_bytheway

To apply for Galactic Unite Brightman Scholarship, please visit www.uncf.org/galactic_brightman

Galactic Unite is a global initiative, driven by Virgin Galactic’s community of Future Astronaut customers, designed to inspire and support students as they seek answers to global challenges through science, technology, engineering and mathematics education (STEM) and business entrepreneurship.

Commenting on the announcement, George Whitesides, CEO and President of Virgin Galactic said: “Space exploration belongs to everyone regardless of socio-economic background. We have built and will be operating the vehicles that will provide universal access to space, safely and affordably for the very first time. But this is just the start. The new industry which we are helping to create will offer endless exciting opportunities for talented young people. We will need that talent in order for the industry to grow and to reach its full potential. Through Jann and Sarah’s generosity and the vision of our community of Future Astronauts, young lives will be changed and ambitions fulfilled to the benefit of future generations.”

“It is exciting to be able to partner with Virgin Unite to provide STEM scholarships to young women,” said Jann Bytheway. “Some of the fastest growing and financially rewarding jobs in the U.S. are in the STEM fields. While women make up more than 50% of the work force, they only comprise one quarter of the STEM jobs. The world needs inventive, intelligent women who can make a difference in STEM.”

Sarah Brightman added: “I’m delighted to be supporting this exciting and important program. There are many talented young women out there who need to be given greater opportunities to develop their STEM skills. These women could be our future astronauts and space program pioneers. Success in every field is usually achieved through a mix of innate skill and superb teaching. I believe that these scholarships will enable the education system to bring out the best in young women who might otherwise not get a chance to realize their full potential.”

“UNCF is excited to be partnering with Virgin Unite to offer this space-age scholarship program,” said UNCF president and CEO Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D. “America will define itself in the 21st century by its ability to prepare our young people for STEM careers, and by its commitment to offer those opportunities to young women from low- and moderate-income families, who are currently underrepresented in STEM careers. UNCF is proud to be part of The Galactic Unite STEM Scholarship Program and salutes Jann Bytheway and Sarah Brightman for their generosity and willingness to invest in America’s future.”

“We are so excited to be working with Virgin Galactic, UNCF and the wonderful Future Astronauts from Virgin Galactic. A big thanks to Jann and Sarah for their commitment. We look forward to working with other partners and other Future Astronauts to really grow this program with the aim of encouraging millions of other young people to get a STEM education and help us all re-imagine how we live and work in this world.” said Virgin Unite CEO Jean Oelwang.

About Virgin Unite

Virgin Unite is the non-for-profit foundation of the Virgin Group. We unite people to tackle tough social and environmental problems in an entrepreneurial way. Our aim is to help revolutionize the way businesses, governments and the social sector work together – driving business as a force for good. This is based on the belief that this is the only way we can tackle the scale and urgency of the challenges facing the world today. Virgin Unite’s overheads are covered by Sir Richard Branson and the Virgin Group, meaning that 100% of additional donations received go direct to the front line where they are needed most. For more information please visit www.virginunite.comn

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About UNCF

UNCF (United Negro College Fund) plays a critical role in enabling more than 60,000 students each year to attend college and get the education they need and that the nation needs them to have. To live up to the ideal expressed in UNCF’s universally-recognized motto, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste,”® UNCF helps students go to and through college by: – Awarding 10,000 scholarships each year under 400 scholarship and internship programs so that students from low- and moderate-income families can attend more than 900 colleges and universities across the country. Through the UNCF/Merck Science Initiative, for example, UNCF has enabled almost 600 students and scholars to study biological science and engineering at the undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral levels; – Providing operating funds for its 38 member colleges, small, private institutions that offer a small-college experience at tuitions that average more than 30 percent less than those at comparable colleges and universities; and – Serving as a national advocate for college readiness and the importance of education for all Americans.

Editor’s Note: I did a bit of sleuthing on this, and I have found Jann Bytheway listed as secretary of Bytheway’s Manufacturing, a company that makes window blinds and related furnishings in West Sacramento, Calif. The family-run company was bought out about a decade ago by Hunter Douglas West, so it’s not clear whether it still exists as an independent entity.