Posted on May 17, 2012, at 5:16 pm .
Virgin Galactic pilot Keith Colmer gets dunked after flying WhiteKnightTwo. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)
WhiteKnightTwo was out flying solo on Wednesday from the Mojave Air & Space Port. Virgin Galactic posted the above photo on its public Google+ page today with the following caption describing the aircraft’s 80th flight:
“One of our pilots, Keith Colmer, got to fly WhiteKnightTwo. Keith’s flown a wide range of commercial, military, and general aviation aircraft, but flying part of a reusable space system was first for him.
“Your humble G+ scribe asked him what he thought of the flight, and he told me: “It was an outstanding first flight. White Knight 2 has phenomenal performance…the climb out was spectacular! Thanks to all of the crew chiefs and engineers at Scaled and TSC for working extra hard to get the flight accomplished.”
“Pictured here, we engage Keith in a little post-first-flight tradition.”
Posted on May 15, 2012, at 6:37 am .
Photo Credit: Sam Coniglio
Scaled Composites is due to resume drop tests of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo this summer after at least a 9-month gap, Flight Global reports:
“We’ll have some drop tests over the summer, I think in July, maybe June. We’ll have to see how it goes, but basically over [the third quarter] we’ll have a lot of drop tests,” says Virgin Galactic. “[Those tests] will have some of the new equipment but mostly that will just be continuing through the aerodynamic, subsonic flight test regime.”
Installation of engine components has begun on the suborbital spacecraft. The vehicle uses a Sierra Nevada-built hybrid rocket, RocketMotorTwo, fueled by nitrous oxide and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB, a form of rubber).
Continue reading ‘Scaled to Resume SpaceShipTwo Drop Tests This Summer’
Posted on May 7, 2012, at 5:12 am .
Gear down. (Photo: Mark Greenberg)
PRESS RELEASE — Space Travel is a reality and speaks to the minds of many. Already over 500 people purchased a $200,000 ticket to go space with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, the worlds first commercial space liner. With celebrities like Aston Kutcher, Stephen Hawking, Michael Schumacher and Victoria Principal already signing up it’s time to connect the International Film Industry to Space and vice versa during an exciting, most “Out-of-the-box” Astronaut Party.
Time and place will be the luscious villa Oxygen on the Riviera’s hotspot Cannes on Saturday May 19, 2012.
Continue reading ‘Virgin Space Tourism Agents to Throw Swanky Party for Cannes Film Festival Celebs’
Posted on May 4, 2012, at 12:21 pm .
The Federal Aviation Administration has cleared the way for the issuance of experimental permits for SpaceShipTwo test flights to begin from the Mojave Air and Space Port.
The FAA has concluded that there would be no significant environmental impact from the flights. The agency issued its finding in a new report, “Final Environmental Assessment for the Launch and Reentry of SpaceShipTwo Reusable Suborbital Rockets at the Mojave Air and Space Port and Finding of No Significant Impact.”
The decision clears the way for the FAA to issue experimental permits and launch licenses for the test flights. The analysis was based on up to 30 launches annually of the eight-person suborbital spacecraft which Scaled Composites is building for Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic company.
“Although experimental permits and launch licenses could authorize unspecified number of launch and reentries, for the purposes of evaluating environmental impacts in this EA, the FAA/AST has assumed a maximum of up to 30 total launches and reentries per year of SpaceShipTwo at the Mojave Air and Space Port, for a total of up to 150 launches and reentries of SpaceShipTwo between 2012 and 2016,” the report reads.
Posted on May 2, 2012, at 12:02 pm .
Jeff Foust has gotten Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides to clarify remarks he made last week in Qatar about the status of SpaceShipTwo’s engine status. Things aren’t nearly far along as it appeared:
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.
Continue reading ‘SpaceShipTwo to Begin Powered Flights with “Starter” Motor, Not Full Engine’
Posted on April 30, 2012, at 10:22 am .
MOJAVE, Calif. (VG/TSC PR) ― Officials with Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company today announced both companies are seeking to fill a combined 18 key positions with qualified engineers, systems designers and more.
Virgin Galactic is currently accepting applications for the following six positions: operations engineer, seat mechanism designer, design engineer, IT manager, regulatory compliance manager and embedded systems software developer. In addition, the company’s space systems development division seeks a mechanical designer, mechanical lead, guidance/navigation/control (GNC) lead and chief engineer.
Continue reading ‘Need a Job? Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company are Hiring’
Posted on April 30, 2012, at 7:40 am .
By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor
A public disagreement over a change of plans in how to construct and operate two Spaceport America welcome and visitor centers has led to the departure of a member of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority’s (NMSA) Board of Directors.
Scott Krahling resigned from the board earlier this month after he had publicly criticized a decision to cut back funding for Spaceport America welcome centers to be built in Hatch and Truth or Consequences in an opinion piece in the Las Cruces Sun-News. The centers are staging locations for visitors to take buses to the spaceport.
The money was diverted to pay for a $7 million runway extension at Spaceport America to satisfy concerns by anchor tenant Virgin Galactic that it was not long enough to allow for safe year-round operations of the company’s SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle.
Continue reading ‘Dispute Over Funding for Spaceport America Welcome Centers Leads to Board Resignation’
Posted on April 27, 2012, at 12:06 pm .
The hangar where Alex Tai's company will house its jets was the site of a robotics competition last Saturday. (Credit: Douglas Messier)
By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor
A company led by the Virgin Group’s Director of Special Projects Alex Tai is the Mojave Air and Space Port’s newest tenant.
Last week, the East Kern Airport District Board of Directors authorized Mojave Air & Space Port CEO Stu Witt to finalize a lease for Tai’s company, Super Sonic Jet, Inc., of Nevada. Tai plans to house a small fleet of Eastern Bloc fighters in Building 70, a hangar adjacent to the airport’s Administration building.
Continue reading ‘Virgin Group’s Alex Tai to Set Up Shop in Mojave’
Posted on April 26, 2012, at 11:06 am .
The Wall Street Journal has an update on RocketMotorTwo:
–Expects to finish developing spacecraft engine in weeks
–Sees first commercial fee-paying customers reaching space by the end of 2013
–Abu Dhabi selected by Virgin to become the second location for its SpacePort
Richard Branson’s space travel company, Virgin Galactic, which is 32% owned by Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments, expects to finish developing its rocket engine in the next two months, the group’s chief executive said, marking a significant step in its ambition to become the first commercial space flight operator.
The rest of this is behind a firewall.
Posted on April 18, 2012, at 1:29 pm .
The latest update from Scaled Composites on testing of SpaceShipTwo’s engine.
Fire: 10
Date: 17 April 12
Objectives:
Tenth 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 40 second hot fire as planned. Duration of burn chosen to allow examination of internal geometry
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