Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo

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This article or section contains information regarding a future spaceflight.
Due to the nature of the content, details may change dramatically as the launch date approaches and/or more information becomes available.

SpaceShipTwo in comparison to SpaceShipOne.

Scale model of the Virgin SpaceShip (VSS) aka SpaceShipTwo

SpaceShipTwo is a suborbital spaceplane currently under development by The Spaceship Company, a joint venture between Scaled Composites and Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, as part of the Tier 1b program. The Virgin Galactic spaceliner plans to operate a fleet of five of these craft in passenger-carrying private spaceflight service starting in 2008. The first spacecraft to be completed will be named VSS (Virgin Space Ship) Enterprise in honor of the fictional Starship Enterprise, and have the FAA registration number N400K (refers to the target altitude of 400,000 feet, approx. 76 miles, or 121.92 kilometres).

The SpaceShipTwo craft is based on technology developed for SpaceShipOne as part of the Scaled Composites Tier One program, funded by Paul Allen. The Spaceship Company is licensing this technology from Paul Allen's Mojave Aerospace Ventures.

According to an interview with designer Burt Rutan, the new craft will fly higher and have a longer downrange than SpaceShipOne, 100 or 200 miles. The maximum capacity will be eight people: six paying passengers and two pilots.

The BBC reports that SpaceShipTwo's crew cabin will have about the same diameter as a Gulfstream V business jet, which is roughly 6 feet high and 7 feet wide. Rutan is designing towards a maximum altitude of between 84 and 87 miles (135-140 km). The design of these craft was completed in late 2005, and the vehicle simulator was complete and construction had started by March 2006^[1]. The vehicle itself will not be unveiled to the public until just before flight testing starts, in late 2007. Following a series of 50-100 test flights,^[2] the first paying customers are expected to fly aboard the craft in late 2008.

Both SpaceShipTwo and its new carrier aircraft, Eve (or White Knight Two), will be roughly three times the size of the first generation spacecraft and mothership that won the Ansari X Prize. While details remain scant, designer Burt Rutan says that SpaceShipTwo will have large porthole windows^[2] for the passengers' viewing pleasure, and all seats will recline back during landing to help decrease the discomfort of G-forces.^[3] All passengers will be allowed to fly without the aid of pressure suits (unlike ^{[citation needed]} NASA astronauts) and the experience will be similar to a high-altitude passenger jet. Reportedly, the craft can land safely even if "catastrophic damage" occurs during the flight.^[4]

In August 2005, the president of space tourism company Virgin Galactic stated that if the upcoming suborbital service with SpaceShipTwo is successful, the follow-up SpaceShipThree will be an orbital craft.^[5]

On September 28, 2006 Sir Richard Branson unveiled a mock-up of the SpaceShipTwo at the Javits Convention Center in New York.

1 Spacecraft
2 Flight
3 Launch site
4 References
5 External links
6 Related content

[edit] Spacecraft

Five vehicles have been ordered by Virgin Galactic. As of September 2006, only one has been named, the Virgin Space Ship Enterprise, and is in development.

VSS Enterprise (In development, name confirmed on 28 September 2006)^[6]
VSS Voyager (Scheduled to be named in 2008) ^{[citation needed]}
Not Named
Not Named
Not Named

[edit] Flight

More than 65,000 would-be space tourists have applied for the first batch of 100 tickets to be available. The price will be initially $200,000. ^[7]. The duration of the flight will be approximately 2.5 hours and there will be weekly launches.

[edit] Launch site

According to a December 2005 interview with Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson, the SpaceShipTwo craft will initially take off from the Mojave Spaceport in California. Spaceport America (formerly Southwest Regional Spaceport), a $200 million spaceport in New Mexico partly funded by the state government, will become the permanent launch site starting in 2009. The company has also shown interest in building spaceports in other parts of the world, including Florida, Saudi Arabia and Scotland. However, the likelihood of these other launching points depends on the success of the initial spaceports in Mojave and New Mexico and Guatemala.