Virgin Galactic have outlined their test flight schedule for White Knight II in 2008. With the last of the behemoth carrier plane’s engines to be delivered in January of next year, the company hopes that either June or July will witness the first test flight of the SpaceShipTwo carrier plane.
The ambitious schedule was outlined during Virgin’s attendance at the 3rd Rutherford Appleton Space Conference in the United Kingdom on December 6. The company also chose the conference to reveal that January 23 2008 will be the date when the press and general public will first gain a glimpse of the finalised Spaceshiptwo and White Knight II design: Previous visions of the two craft have merely implied that the new vehicles will be scaled up versions of SS1 and WK1; however nearly three years of advanced design work will no doubt produce subtle differences in the overall look of the two craft. Will Wheathorn, Virgin Galactic’s Vice President commented: ‘ White Knight II will look more like the Virgin Atlantic Globalflyer. We have built all the models to show the public.’
Wheathorn also used the conference to hint at the potential capability of White Knight II, indicating that the company would charge $3 million for the launch of small satellites using the giant carrier plane. As to what type of craft Virgin Galactic will place beneath WK II’s wings to boost the satellites into orbit is another question entirely - the only hint that Wheathorn gave was that the craft would consist of two stages. Perhaps we can look for guidance on this matter to the form of the very large carrier aircraft that T/Space (to which Rutan is a contributor) submitted to the NASA’s COTS competition effort (pictured). Will SpaceShipThree be an air launched two stage rocket?
Certainly, if SpaceShipThree is going to be an orbital craft then it is unlikely to possess wings. Rutan has previously hinted that it is his personal ambition to reach for the Moon. He is therefore unlikely to focus his next efforts, after SpaceShipTwo, on building a craft whose wings will be torn away in Earth’s atmosphere after attaining the kind of speeds that you need to reach in order to attain trans lunar injection and Earth return. SpaceShipThree is therefore likely to be a two staged air launched system with an orbital manoeuvrable, crewed capsule. As for when this vehicle will appear, it seems likely that it will be operating by 2015 at the earliest. Who knows what will be possible if White Knight II and SpaceShipTwo prove to be commercially viable? .
Image: T/Space
The ambitious schedule was outlined during Virgin’s attendance at the 3rd Rutherford Appleton Space Conference in the United Kingdom on December 6. The company also chose the conference to reveal that January 23 2008 will be the date when the press and general public will first gain a glimpse of the finalised Spaceshiptwo and White Knight II design: Previous visions of the two craft have merely implied that the new vehicles will be scaled up versions of SS1 and WK1; however nearly three years of advanced design work will no doubt produce subtle differences in the overall look of the two craft. Will Wheathorn, Virgin Galactic’s Vice President commented: ‘ White Knight II will look more like the Virgin Atlantic Globalflyer. We have built all the models to show the public.’
Wheathorn also used the conference to hint at the potential capability of White Knight II, indicating that the company would charge $3 million for the launch of small satellites using the giant carrier plane. As to what type of craft Virgin Galactic will place beneath WK II’s wings to boost the satellites into orbit is another question entirely - the only hint that Wheathorn gave was that the craft would consist of two stages. Perhaps we can look for guidance on this matter to the form of the very large carrier aircraft that T/Space (to which Rutan is a contributor) submitted to the NASA’s COTS competition effort (pictured). Will SpaceShipThree be an air launched two stage rocket?
Certainly, if SpaceShipThree is going to be an orbital craft then it is unlikely to possess wings. Rutan has previously hinted that it is his personal ambition to reach for the Moon. He is therefore unlikely to focus his next efforts, after SpaceShipTwo, on building a craft whose wings will be torn away in Earth’s atmosphere after attaining the kind of speeds that you need to reach in order to attain trans lunar injection and Earth return. SpaceShipThree is therefore likely to be a two staged air launched system with an orbital manoeuvrable, crewed capsule. As for when this vehicle will appear, it seems likely that it will be operating by 2015 at the earliest. Who knows what will be possible if White Knight II and SpaceShipTwo prove to be commercially viable? .
Image: T/Space
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