Tag Archive for 'WhiteKnightTwo'

Virgin Galactic Update: WhiteKnightTwo in Taxi Tests

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Doug
on November 20, 2008
in space tourism
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Rob Coppinger says that Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft has made short taxi tests recently in Mojave, Calif.

“Hyperbola has learnt that Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo has made short runs under its own jet engine power and been shackled to a Mojave air and space port concrete platform test stand so its four Pratt & Whitney 308A engines can be fired up, potentially to full power,” Coppinger wrote in a Nov. 17 blog entry.

In a story published on Nov. 9, The Independent quoted Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson as saying that a test flight would take place within 10 days. That timeline apparently has passed without a takeoff. I’ll let you know if I hear of anything.

Report: WhiteKnightTwo to Fly Within 10 Days

Published
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Doug
on November 8, 2008
in News and space tourism
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The Independent reports that Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft will make its first test flight in California by November 19. “Sir Richard Branson…hopes to be at the Mojave Air & Space Port in the Californian desert for the first flight and plans to make a test flight himself,” the newspaper reports.

The first flight will take place about 3 1/2 months after the aircraft was rolled out in the desert. WhiteKnightTwo will carry aloft SpaceShipTwo for suborbital tourism flights beginning in 2010.

Virgin Galactic Rolled Out Incomplete WhiteKnightTwo in July; Vehicle Lacked Power, Avionics…and Stuff

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Doug
on November 3, 2008
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If you have been wondering why Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo has yet to fly despite being rolled out three months ago, wonder no longer. Apparently the vehicle was unfinished when it was unveiled in July, lacking almost everything that was required to actually fly. Like power, avionics and…oh yes…landing gear.

Continue reading ‘Virgin Galactic Rolled Out Incomplete WhiteKnightTwo in July; Vehicle Lacked Power, Avionics…and Stuff’

WhiteKnightTwo Expected to Fly Within 2 or 3 Weeks

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Doug
on October 23, 2008
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The mothership of SpaceShipTwo is expected to take to the skies for test flights within the next three weeks, according to reports out of the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight in Las Cruces, NM.

The first flight of WhiteKnightTwo will take place more than two months after the aircraft was first rolled out amid much fanfare at the Scaled Composites production facility in Mojave, CA.

LiveScience and the Las Cruces Sun-News have more details.

Move Over New Mexico; Scotland to Become Base for Virgin Galactic Flights

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Doug
on September 30, 2008
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Virgin Galactic CEO Will Whitehorn tells The Daily Record that his company will begin flying suborbital tourism flights from one of three locations in Scotland beginning in 2013.

“Scotland will definitely be our main base in the UK for space tourism flights and we would be aiming to take off from there within about five years,” he told the newspaper. “There are three great locations within Scotland, with the best being Lossiemouth. Failing that, Kinloss and Machrihanish in the Mull of Kintyre would also be suitable for this kind of flight.”

Continue reading ‘Move Over New Mexico; Scotland to Become Base for Virgin Galactic Flights’

WhiteKnightTwo Flights Set to Begin Later This Year

Published
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Doug
on September 28, 2008
in News, Uncategorized and space tourism
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Rob Coppinger reports that the first test flight of Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo carrier ship may be slipped until closer to the end of the year.

“There have been various taxi trials outside the hangar already, but undertaken at night. The first flight trials will take place when we are ready and will definitely be this year and possibly within the next few weeks,” Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn told Coppinger.

Meanwhile, Bill Deaver has taken a spin into space aboard SpaceShipTwo - a good eighteen before any paying passengers will. Sort of.

Continue reading ‘WhiteKnightTwo Flights Set to Begin Later This Year’

Virgin Galactic Costs Approaching $300 Million; Interesting Carbon Emission Claims Made

Published
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Doug
on August 12, 2008
in Uncategorized and space tourism
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The Daily Telegraph has an account of the recent unveiling of WhiteKnightTwo by James Quinn, one of the media folks whom Sir Richard Branson flew from LAX to Mojave Airport for the event. You’ll be happy to know that Quinn sat beside a glamorous young tech-saavy blonde who, sad to say, lacked the $200,000 required for a ticket aboard the spaceship she was so enthusiastically blogging about.

Ah yes….such is the life of most bloggers. Lots of enthusiasm, not always a lot of cash…Sigh….

On a more serious note, Quinn also had a chance to talk to “former Virgin spin doctor-cum-brand developer” Will Whitehorn. The Virgin Galactic president was living up to his label, promising - among other things - ultra-cheap satellite deliveries to supplement the luxury rides for millionauts.

Whitehorn says Virgin has spent about $100 million so far, with a final development cost likely in the range of $300 million. This is more than the $240 million estimate given only a few months back. But, no worries; Whitehorn is still predicting the company will turn a profit soon after they start flying - whenever that happens to be.

Continue reading ‘Virgin Galactic Costs Approaching $300 Million; Interesting Carbon Emission Claims Made’

Ah…But What, You Ask, Does It All Mean?

Published
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Doug
on July 29, 2008
in Uncategorized and space tourism
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An artist conception of the WhiteKnightTwo hauling aloft SpaceShipTwo (sold separately). Image credit: Virgin Galactic

That’s an excellent question. Well, you’ve read all the hype, now for a little perspective….

What Virgin’s WhiteKnightTwo Really Means to the Future of Space
Popular Mechanics

Barbara S. Peterson provides an overview of the potential (and some of the possible limitations) of Virgin Galactic’s space tourism plans. It’s an excellent piece, but I won’t excerpt it here for fear that the context might be lost. Read the whole piece.

Colby Cosh: Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic is where hype meets hope
National Post (Canada)

As you might guess from the title, Colby is a tad skeptical….

“As a species we’re no closer to truly routine space travel that we were last week—despite the high-flown words of Branson’s address to the attendees…

“Branson has the vague plans to design a SpaceShipThree capable of orbital flight, but the relatively humble materials and fuels he is using for SpaceShipTwo won’t cut the mustard. If it’s possible to get ordinary civilians into orbit through sheer marketing ability, Branson is the man to bet on.”

Virgin Galactic, Scaled Composites Roll-out “Eve” Mothership

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Doug
on July 28, 2008
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Sir Richard Branson and designer Burt Rutan walk aside the Virgin Mothership “Eve” (VMS EVE) in Mojave, CA. on the eve of its official rollout on July 28, 2008.

Virgin Galactic Unveils Space Liner Mothership
Space.com

“With all the pageantry of a king’s arrival, the WhiteKnightTwo — a huge flying launch pad to support passenger suborbital space travel — is making its public debut here today.

“The rollout of the colossal composite plane signals the first phase of a critical test program to establish a private spaceliner business — a venture being bankrolled by British entrepreneur and billionaire, Richard Branson and his Virgin Group.

“Looking like a giant catamaran for the sky, the twin-boom, two individual fuselages are topped by a large, 140-foot (42-meter) long stretch of wing. The aircraft will straddle and carry to drop altitude (around 48,000 feet) the SpaceShipTwo — a six passenger, two pilot craft that, once released, rocket’s pay-per-view passengers to some 65 miles (104 km) above the Earth.”

Virgin Galactic Unveils Launch Plane for Upcoming Spacecraft
Wired.com

“After years of secretive construction, Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic presented the first stage of their commercial launch platform, WhiteKnightTwo, today at the Mojave Air and Space Port.

“Sir Richard Branson explains his motive for creating Virgin Galactic: ‘Seeing the planet from out there surrounded by the incredibly thin layer of atmosphere helps one to wake up to the fragility of the small proportion of the planet’s mass that we inhabit and to the importance of protecting the Earth.’”

VIRGIN GALACTIC PRESS RELEASE

Virgin Founder, Sir Richard Branson and SpaceShipOne designer, Burt Rutan, today pulled back the hangar doors on the new WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft that will ferry SpaceShipTwo and thousands of private astronauts, science packages and payload on the first stage of the Virgin Galactic sub-orbital space experience.

The rollout represents another major milestone in Virgin Galactic’s quest to launch the world’s first private, environmentally benign, space access system for people, payload and science.

Continue reading ‘Virgin Galactic, Scaled Composites Roll-out “Eve” Mothership’

Happy Birthday, Suborbital Tourism: Now, Will Ya Go Fly Some Actual Tourists Already?

Published
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Doug
on June 28, 2008
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Alan Boyle helps the space tourism industry celebrate its fourth “birthday” with a piece over at MSNBC. Or, more accurately, he marks the anniversary of Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites ushering in the “age of privately developed spaceflight” with the first suborbital flight of SpaceShipOne.

Boyle reviews the progress since that date, noting the only predictable thing is the industry’s unpredictability. Virgin Galactic’s first suborbital tourist flight is still about two years away, which is more or less where it was back in June 2004.

For his part, Rutan professes to have been so caught up building SpaceShipTwo that he plum forgot about the whole anniversary thing until Boyle reminded him. This folksy “ahh shucks” response may be designed to minimize the four years that have passed since that historic flight. Or things are so far behind schedule that he genuinely did forget.

Whatever the case, the legendary designer is not as active as he once was in Scaled Composites, which is now fully owned by defense colossus Northrop Grumman. Rutan, who is still recovering from open heart surgery in February, stepped down as the company’s president earlier this month. Sources who have seen him give speeches in recent months report that he has a tendency to meander off topic into tangents, a sign of how much the surgery has affected him.

Meanwhile, Space.com’s Tariq Malik looks at a couple of upcoming space tourism events: Virgin Galactic’s scheduled July 28 rollout of its WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, which will haul SpaceShipTwo aloft; and Space Adventures’ October launch of publicity shy Richard Garriott, who will be the latest billionaire to use the taxpayer-funded International Space Station as an orbiting hotel.