Spaceport America Groundbreaking!

This was an exciting weekend for the space tourism industry!

The groundbreaking ceremonies for Spaceport America were held Friday at Las Cruces, New Mexico. However, the thing that everyone is talking about is the flyover that the VMS Eve made after the event. Yes, I said after. Initially, Eve was expected to make a flyover during the groundbreaking ceremony itself, but a technical issue delayed the flight. No matter, though, because the flight happened in spectacular fashion the following day. Eve flew from Phoenix, AZ and made half a dozen passes over the existing airport before departing for the Mojave airport. By my count, this marks Eve's tenth test flight.

And thanks to the blog Personal Spaceflight (the writer of which I am extremely jealous), we have an excellent video for all to share.



Trip to Space

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Solar Array

Progress: 3.28%  Power: 49W

SpaceShipTwo Engine Test

Woo, finally some space tourism news!

It has been a while, hasn't it? And it's not for a lack of trying; there just hasn't been much news out there. Well, now there is, and it's a doozie.

In a surprise announcement, Virgin Galactic released video of the first test of SpaceShipTwo's engine. And here it is, narrated by none other than Sir Richard Branson.



Around the same time, Virgin Galactic's Will Whitehorn announced the first long-distance flight of VMS Eve, SpaceShipTwo's carrier aircraft. The flight will occur June 19, during the groundbreaking ceremony of Spaceport America. The aircraft will fly from Mojave to the event and then back without stopping. Whitehorn also suggested that SpaceShipTwo's first unpowered tests will begin by the end of the year, and also hinted at was that the first paying customers may fly in one and a half to two years.

It couldn't come soon enough!

Hey, look at that. As if in an omen, my trip to space savings reached 5%.

Trip to Space

Progress: 5.03%  Flight Time: 0:07:33

Solar Array

Progress: 4.05%  Power: 60W

WhiteKnightTwo scrapes the runway!

Well, it's that time again! And I expect these to come more and more frequently. WhiteKnightTwo made its fourth test flight last week, and it wasn't quite the success others have been... but that's why they call it a test flight.

Partway through the flight, the VMS Eve made a touch-and-go maneuver, and as it did so, its twin tails scraped the runway. Initially, the media speculated that this was due to crosswinds, or that there was a design flaw in the aircraft. This prompted Scaled Composites to issue a press release to set the record straight. Their press release stated that the problem occurred due to an asynchronous application of thrust during the maneuver, and that simply avoiding that condition would prevent it from happening in the future.

We'll see what the future holds...

Trip to Space

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Solar Array

Progress: 3.28%  Power: 49W

WhiteKnightTwo Takes Two More Test Flights

Yes, the testing of Virgin Galactic's first WhiteKnightTwo aircraft (named Eve) appears to be going well. The most recent test, performed just last month, was particularly spectacular.

On March 25, the VMS Eve took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port and flew for two and a half hours. It reach speeds of over 250 mph, altitudes of over 14,000 feet, and performed a battery of tests including a mid-air engine restart. The successful event prompted Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, to announce that he will be aboard one of Eve's upcoming test flights.

This test was, of course, far short of SpaceShipTwo's 50,000 foot launch height, but it's only a matter of time...

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Catch-Up: WhiteKnightTwo Flies At Last!

It has been conceived, designed, built, postponed, and delayed, but it has finally happened; the first component in the first regular tourist spaceflights has flown!

In the first of many, many test flights, the first WhiteKnightTwo aircraft (named VMS Eve) took off from the Mojave airport on December 21 at 8:17 AM Pacific time and landed one hour later at 9:17 AM. Eve is the first of two carrier aircraft to be created by Scaled Composites for use by Virgin Galactic. If all goes well, Eve will carry the first SpaceShipTwo craft to a 50,000 foot altitude and drop it for the launch of Virgin Galactic's first tourist spaceflights.

By all accounts, test flight number one went extremely well. Dick Rutan (the brother of Burt Rutan, who founded Scaled Composites) stated that the flight was "99 percent on target."

WhiteKnightTwo is slated to start its first test flights coupled with SpaceShipTwo early next year, and if all goes extremely well, the first tourist flights will occur late next year. Here's hoping!

Oh, and you can see a video of awesomeness here.

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WhiteKnightTwo - Good and Bad News

Two pieces of interesting news have come put concerning WhiteKnightTwo in the past couple of days. WhiteKnightTwo, of course, is the carrier aircraft for SpaceShipTwo, aboard which tourist space flights will be launched.

Bad news first: The initial flight testing of Eve, the first WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, were supposed to happen within the next month or so. However, they have been postponed for at least a couple of months. Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites (the creators of Eve) have been very quiet about why the flight testing has been postponed; they only say they'll conduct the testing when they are ready.

And now onto the good news: Virgin Galactic is now formally looking into making use of the WhiteKnightTwo craft for scientific studies. It was suggested before that this would be possible, but these are the first steps toward actually doing it. Specifically, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is interested in placing scientific instruments onto the vehicle during the flight testing, as it will be making regular flights at a height of 50,000 feet, which is twice as high as most of its current studies.

This should provide Virgin Galactic with some supplemental income while it awaits the completion of SpaceShipTwo... that is, if Eve ever gets off the ground.

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WhiteKnightTwo Unveiled!

I've been in the back woods of the middle of nowhere having a blast for the past week, but I couldn't have picked a better day to return. The day has come, and Virgin Galactic's first WhiteKnightTwo aircraft has been unveiled!

Together at Scaled Composites in Mojave, California, Sir Richard Branson (founder of Virgin Galactic) and Burt Rutan (Designer of SpaceShipOne, among other distinctions) pulled back the hanger doors obscuring the most advanced carbon-composite aircraft ever created. The craft is named Eve, after Richard Branson's mother (though one cannot deny its symbolic connotations). The major hurdles and advances that this craft represents include the longest single carbon fiber aviation component ever created (the 140 ft wing spar).

When it is in full operations, Eve will assist in the launch of SpaceShipTwo up to four times a day by carrying it up to 50,000 feet, and it will also be capable of transporting the spacecraft across the country if needed. Furthermore, other potential uses of the WhiteKnightTwo design have been mentioned, including firefighting and satellite launch applications.

People present at the unveiling (which included Buzz Aldrin and over 100 future Virgin Galactic space tourists) also got to see the first SpaceShipTwo, though heavily shrouded and currently under construction.

Oh, and here's the relevant super awesome picture:

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New Informaion on WhiteKnightTwo

Space.com has released new details about Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, learned in an interview with Will Whitehorn, President of Virgin Galactic. The original Space.com article can be read here.

In short, we already knew that the first WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, named Eve, would be unveiled next month after Scaled Composites completes its construction. New details include the makeup of the craft and it's planned flight test program. Except for the blades and undercarriage, WhiteKnightTwo is made entirely of carbon composite - right down to the wiring. This material, from which the name Scaled Composites is derived, is incredibly light while also being as strong as or stronger than the metal alternative.

Will Whitehorn admitted that when the construction of WhiteKnightTwo was beginning, the company still wasn't sure that it would follow through with a tourist spaceflight program. They apparently justified this through the fact that WhiteKnightTwo potentially has many other uses besides space tourism. The light structure, massive payload, and high-altitude capabilities of the craft make it ideal for the launch of microsatellites to low earth orbit, as a platform to perform microgravity experiments, or as a "water bomb" craft to fight fires.

However, it seems that Virgin Galactic has had a goal of selling a year's worth of tickets before its first tourist spaceflight is launched, and it is well on its way to exceeding that goal. They have apparently sold 254 tickets, with initial payments of anywhere from $20,000 to $200,000. This gives Virgin Galactic about $36 million in the bank and the go-ahead to move forward with the space program.

The first WhiteKnightTwo, once it is rolled out, will undergo extensive flight testing before tourist flights begin. Right now, they're looking at 130 to 150 test flights, though that number may be reduced if everything goes well. Once the first WhiteKnightTwo rolls out, it will be ground tested until September, when its first flights should begin.

And I'm sure looking forward to seeing that on the TV.

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WhiteKnightTwo to be Rolled Out July 28

Well, a ton of space tourism news has come out in the past couple of days, so I'll take the stories one at a time.

The most exciting story by far is the recent announcement of the rollout date for Virgin Galactic's first WhiteKnightTwo aircraft. The announcement was made at the International Space Development Conference yesterday morning in Washington DC.

Two White Knight II craft are being built for Virgin Galactic, and the first one will be named Eve. These craft will be responsible for carrying Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo spacecraft up to an altitude at which they can be released for their launch to space. Will Whitehorn, while he was making the announcement, also suggested that the White Knight II could be used for other purposes, such as firefighting or the launch of small satellites.

The announcement comes as no surprise, as the July 28 rollout date had been speculated before, but it's good to know that it's now official.

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New WhiteKnightTwo Photos, VG Profits

Virgin Galactic, not to be outdone by the space tourism news that other companies have been releasing this past week, have just released a bunch of new photos of the first SpaceShipTwo! The pictures clearly show the progress of the Enterprise's assembly, and with any luck this will be the first dedicated tourist spacecraft. Take a look yourself!

Edit: This is WhiteKnightTwo, named Eve, and not SpaceShipTwo as I had originally made a fool of myself by assuming.





Also in the news was an interesting little tidbit about Virgin Galactic: they actually reported a slight profit in a recently released financial statement. This is no doubt partially due to the SpaceShipTwo ticket deposits that I mentioned in the last post.

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