Virgin Galactic has completed the first captive-carry test flight of its suborbital space tourism vehicle.
The test lasted 174 minutes, during which the SpaceShipTwo module stayed attached to its mothership, the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft. The combined…
Virgin Galactic has completed the first captive-carry test flight of its suborbital space tourism vehicle.
The test lasted 174 minutes, during which the SpaceShipTwo module stayed attached to its mothership, the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft. The combined vehicle reached a highest of altitude of 45,000 feet, 5000 feet short of the anticipated release point of SpaceShipTwo during future commercial tourist flights.
The next milestone that has to be passed is a flight where SpaceShipTwo, built by Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites team, successfully glides free of the mothership. That will be followed by independently powered separation.
Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, said: “Seeing the finished spaceship in December was a major day for us but watching VSS Enterprise fly for the first time really brings home what beautiful, ground-breaking vehicles Burt and his team have developed for us.
“It comes as no surprise that the flight went so well; the Scaled team is uniquely qualified to bring this important and incredible dream to reality. Today was another major step along that road and a testament to US engineering and innovation.”
Testing will continue throughout 2010, with a view to entering full commercial operations in 2011.
