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Virgin Galactic

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Virgin Galactic, LLC
Company typeLimited liabilty company
IndustrySpace tourism
Founded2004
FounderSir Richard Branson
Headquarters
Las Cruces, New Mexico
,
USA
Key people
George Whitesides (CEO)
Revenue238,000 United States dollar (2020) Edit this on Wikidata
−275,284,000 United States dollar (2020) Edit this on Wikidata
−273,035,000 United States dollar (2020) Edit this on Wikidata
Total assets803,990,000 United States dollar (2020) Edit this on Wikidata
ParentVirgin Group
Websitewww.virgingalactic.com

Virgin Galactic is a company within Richard Branson's Virgin Group which plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to space tourists, suborbital launches for space science missions and orbital launches of small satellites. Further in the future Virgin Galactic hopes to offer orbital human spaceflights as well. Virgin Galactic's spacecraft are launched from a large aeroplane, giving the spacecraft more initial speed and altitude than if it were launched from the ground.

Mothership

White Knight Two

The White Knight One and White Knight Two are special aeroplanes functioning as mother-ship and launch-platform for the spacecraft SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo respectively. The motherships are large fixed-wing aircraft. They have two hulls, linked together by a central wing.

Spacecraft

File:Spaceship One in flight 1.jpg
SpaceShipOne, the first private manned spacecraft to fly above the 100-km Kármán line
WhiteKnight2
Main article: SpaceShipTwo
See also: Scaled Composites

Overview of the spacecraft flights

It is planned that the spacecraft will be robust and affordable enough to take paying passengers ($200,000 per person with a $20,000 deposit). As of September 2011, there are around 500 ticket-holders in line to fly with Virgin Galactic. Notable passengers that have already submitted their deposit include Tom Hanks, Ashton Kutcher, Katy Perry, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie.[1] The craft is projected to be a six passenger, two pilot craft.[2] Its planned trajectory will overlap the Earth’s atmosphere at 70,000 feet (21,000 m), which will make it a sub-orbital journey with a short period of weightlessness. The spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo, will be carried to about 16 kilometers or 52000 ft by a carrier aircraft, White Knight II. At that point, when the carrier aircraft reaches its maximum height, the SpaceShipTwo vehicle will separate and continue to over 100 km (the Kármán line, a common definition of where "space" begins). The time from liftoff of the White Knight booster carrying SpaceShipTwo until the touchdown of SpaceShipTwo after the sub-orbital flight will be about 2.5 hours. The sub-orbital flight itself will only be a small fraction of that time. The weightlessness will last approximately 6 minutes.[3] Passengers will be able to release themselves from their seats during these 6 minutes and float around the cabin.[2]

In addition to the sub-orbital passenger business, Virgin Galactic will market SpaceShipTwo for sub-orbital space science missions and market WhiteKnightTwo for "small satellite" launch services. They had planned to initiate RFPs for the satellite business in early 2010, however flights had not materialized as of 2012..[4]

SpaceShipTwo's performance

SpaceShipTwo flies to a height of 110 km, going beyond the defined boundary of space (100 km) and lengthening the experience of weightlessness [for its passengers].[2] The spacecraft reaches a top speed of 2500 mph, faster than current fighter jets. It has double the crew (2) and can carry triple the passengers (6) of its predecessor. In honour of the science fiction series Star Trek, the first two ships are named after the fictional starships Enterprise and Voyager. To re-enter the atmosphere SpaceShipTwo folds its wings up, and then returns them to their original position for an unpowered descent flight back onto the runway. The craft has a very limited cross-range capability and until other planned spaceports are built worldwide, it has to land in the area where it started. Further "Spaceports" are planned in Dubai and elsewhere, with the intention that the spaceline will have a world-wide availability and commodity in the future.

SpaceShip Two

Main article: SpaceShipTwo

Sir Richard Branson unveiled the rocket plane on Monday 7 December 2009. SpaceShipTwo was presented to the world in the Mojave desert, in California. The vehicle underwent testing during the following 18 months before being allowed to take ticketed individuals on short-hop trips just above the atmosphere. Sir Richard Branson, who heads the Virgin Group, intends to run the first flights out of New Mexico before extending operations around the globe. Built from lightweight carbon composite materials and powered by a hybrid rocket motor, SS2 is based on the Ansari X PRIZE-winning SpaceShipOne concept - a rocket plane that is lifted initially by a carrier vehicle before blasting skywards. SS1 became the world's first private spaceship with a series of high-altitude flights in 2004.[5]

Its successor, however, is twice as large, measuring 18 m (60 ft) in length. And whereas SpaceShipOne only had a single pilot (and the ballast equivalent of two passengers), SS2 will have a crew of two and room for six passengers. More than 400 individuals are reported to have signed up for a flight as of early 2011. [6] Each is paying $200,000 (£121,000) for the privilege of experiencing approximately six minutes of weightlessness during what will be a two-hour end-to-end flight. Many of those future "astronauts" have attended the VIP unveiling at the Mojave Air and Spaceport. Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson christened the spaceliner Virgin SpaceShip (VSS) Enterprise.

The New Mexico authorities are investing almost $200m (£121m) in a purpose-built facility in Sierra County, New Mexico, Spaceport America. It will have a 3,000m (10,000 ft) runway and a suitably space-age terminal and hangar building designed by Foster and Partners. Sir Richard's Virgin Galactic enterprise will have competitors but he is almost certain to be the first to market, barring any problems arising in the test campaign. SpaceShipTwo's carrier plane is called WhiteKnightTwo. It was finished last year and has already begun its own trials.[7]

The Spaceship Company

The Spaceship Company (TSC) is a new aerospace production company, founded by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Scaled Composites, which is building a fleet of commercial spaceships and launch aircraft with the intention of making widespread space travel a reality. TSC’s initial launch customer is Virgin Galactic, which has contracted to purchase five SpaceShipTwos and two WhiteKnightTwos.[8] To meet Virgin Galactic’s requirements, TSC has contracted Scaled Composites to develop and build prototypes of WK2 and SS2, of which TSC started full-scale production in 2008.[9][10]

Competition

See also: Private spaceflight

There are numerous other companies actively working on commercial passenger suborbital spaceflight. Additionally, there are several others developing commercial manned orbital spaceflight capability (including some which are initially designed for, or may eventually be used for, commercial passenger spaceflight), which is a significantly more difficult problem than suborbital spaceflight.

Fleet

As of 2008, Virgin Galactic is planning to have a fleet of two White Knight Two motherships and five or more SpaceShipTwo tourist suborbital spacecraft.[11]

WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft
Virgin MotherShips
  1. VMS Eve [12]
  2. VMS Spirit of Steve Fossett [13][14][15]
SpaceShipTwo suborbital spacecraft
Virgin SpaceShips
  1. VSS Enterprise [16]
  2. VSS Voyager [17][18]
  3. Not Yet Named
  4. Not Yet Named
  5. Not Yet Named

Base

Test launches are planned to take place from the Mojave Spaceport, where Scaled Composites is constructing the spacecraft. Virgin Galactic expects that initial passenger flights will take place there, as well.[19]

An international architectural competition was held for the design of Virgin Galactic's operating base, Spaceport America in New Mexico. The contract was awarded to URS and Foster + Partners architects.[20] Upon the completion of the spaceport, flight operations will transfer from the California desert to the new bases.[19]

Virgin Galactic also announced on April 3, 2008 that in the future they will operate in Europe out of Spaceport Sweden.[21]

Will Whitehorn stated in an interview with Space.co.uk on 29 April 2008 that the company was considering flying from a UK base: RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, during the summer months only.[22] There are also rumours that the base could be located in RAF Machrihanish (Campbeltown, Scotland) or an unnamed location in south-west England.[23]

In October 2010, the company held an event at Spaceport America where it ceremoniously opened the first runway. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson attended the ceremony, and SpaceShipTwo, also known as the "VSS Enterprise," was landed during the event. For the landing, the VSS Enterprise was carried underneath the fuselage of Virgin Galactics' Mother Ship Eve.[24]

Corporate

Virgin Galactic's typeface was custom designed for the venture in 2006 by Dalton Maag and GBH. It is called the "Elevon" font.[25]

Dave (David) Mackay, former RAF test pilot, was in 2011 named chief pilot for Virgin Galactic, [26] as well as in-house chief test-pilot.[27]

The first line pilot, and second test pilot, was hired in 2011 for Virgin Galactic, Keith "Coma" Colmer, former USAF test pilot.[28] He will also work in the test program with Scaled Composites.[29]

Commencement of space flights

Will Whitehorn, until recently president of Virgin Galactic, stated that the company would "not put a definite timeline on when the commercial flights would begin" but that "all was on track with its development plans" and that "If all goes to plan", the inaugural sub-orbital flight should happen "within two years [of June 2009]".[30]

Refining the projected schedule in October 2009, Virgin Galactic has continued to decline to announce a firm schedule for commercial flights, but did reiterate that initial flights would take place from Spaceport America. Commercial availability will be based on a "safety-driven schedule," which they hope to achieve "within two years."[4]

In 2009, Scaled Composite's president Doug Shane said that WhiteKnight Two's first SpaceShipTwo captive flights would be in early 2010.[31] Both aircraft flew together in March 2010.[32] On December 7, 2009, SpaceShipTwo was unveiled at the Mojave Spaceport.[33][34]

By February, 2012, SpaceShipTwo had completed 15 test flights while attached to WhiteKnightTwo, and an additional 16 glide tests, the last of which took place in September, 2011.[35]

Collaboration with NASA

In February 2007, officials from Virgin and NASA signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the potential for collaboration.[36][37]

See also

References

  1. ^ Alan Boyle (March 19, 2012). "Ashton Kutcher set for space trip". msnbc.com. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "Virgin Galactic". virgingalactic.com. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  3. ^ "Captain Kirk signs on for Virgin Galactic Space Ride". soultek.com. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
  4. ^ a b Will Whitehorn (2009-10-27). International Astronautical Congress 2009: Civilian Access to Space (video, comments at c. 22:00). Daejeon, Korea: Flightglobal Hyperbola, Rob Coppinger.
  5. ^ "SpaceShipOne rockets to success". BBC.co.uk. 2005-10-07. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
  6. ^ "Virgin Galactic Joins Fray to Fly NASA Astronauts". ABC News. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
  7. ^ "Twin-fuselage White Knight Two goes through test at Mojave airport". MSNBC.com. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  8. ^ "Richard Branson and Burt Rutan Form Spacecraft Building Company". SPACE.com. 2005-07-27. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  9. ^ http://www.virgingalactic.com/jobs/Vehicle%20Production%20Planner.pdf
  10. ^ http://www.scaled.com/projects/ttop/press_release.pdf
  11. ^ Malik, Tariq (2008-01-23). "Virgin Galactic Unveils Suborbital Spaceliner Design". SPACE.com. Retrieved 2008-01-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ "Spaceship Company unveils design of SpaceShipTwo". Pravda Online. 2008-01-23. Retrieved 2008-01-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ Branson, Richard (10 October 2007). "My Friend, Steve Fossett". Time. Retrieved 2007-10-31. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ Burack, Ari (10 October 2007). "Sir Richard Branson, black robed as Father Richard for zany party inaugurating Virgin American flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas". San Francisco Sentinel. Retrieved 2008-02-28. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ Nizza, Mike (2007-10-11). "The Legend of Steve Fossett Takes Root". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ "Virgin boss in space tourism bid". BBC News. 27 September 2004. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
  17. ^ Wilson, Simon (2005-01-21). "Will space tourism ever take off?". MoneyWeek. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ "One small step for space tourism... Private spaceflight". The Economist. 16 December 2004. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ a b "Virgin Galactic FAQ: Where Will I Fly From?". Retrieved 2008-06-26.
  20. ^ "Foster + Partners". fosterandpartners.com. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  21. ^ "News Release 03.04.2008 / Spaceport Sweden and Virgin Galactic". Retrieved 2008-06-26.
  22. ^ "Will Whitehorn (Virgin Galactic) and Heather MacRae (Venture Thinking) at the RAeS". space.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  23. ^ "SNP backs Lossiemouth as first UK space port". Retrieved 2008-12-26.
  24. ^ "Runway Opens at world's first spaceport". BBC News. 2010-10-23. Retrieved 2010-10-22.
  25. ^ CoDesign, "Virgin Galactic Puts Its Spacey Typeface Up For Sale", 1 July 2011
  26. ^ The Telegraph (London), "How one boy's dream of space flight looks like coming true", Philip Sherwell, 2 July 2011
  27. ^ Coventry Telegraph, "Spaceship pilot to visit Coventry University", 13 June 2011
  28. ^ SpaceDaily, "Virgin Galactic selects second pilot", Space Travel, 1 November 2011
  29. ^ Space.com, "Virgin Galactic Picks Air Force Pilot to Fly Private Spaceship", Clara Moskowitz, 1 November 2011
  30. ^ Hancock, Simon; Moloney, Alan (2009-06-20). "Work starts on New Mexico spaceport". BBC News. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  31. ^ http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/10/22/333823/pictures-whiteknight-twos-spoilers-get-holes.html
  32. ^ http://www.virgingalactic.com/news/item/vss-enterprises-first-flight/
  33. ^ Allen, Nick (2009-12-08). "Richard Branson unveils Virgin Galactic's spaceship Enterprise". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  34. ^ Batey, Angus (2010-06-05). [v "Your flight is now departing from space terminal 1: The amazing story behind Branson's Virgin Galactic project"] (Web). London, UK: Daily Mail. Retrieved 2010-07-28. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  35. ^ Klotz, Irene (2012-02-28). "UPDATE 1-Virgin Galactic aims to test fly ship in space this year" (Web). Reuters. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  36. ^ http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/169943main_NASA_Virgin_MOU.pdf
  37. ^ http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=21973

External links


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