Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo

SpaceShipTwo
The first SpaceShipTwo, VSS Enterprise
Role	spaceplane
Manufacturer	Scaled Composites
Status	In production (First spacecraft rolled out on December 7, 2009)
Developed from	SpaceShipOne

Scaled Composites' Model 339 SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is a suborbital spaceplane for carrying space tourists, 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 spaceship was officially unveiled to the public on Monday, 7 December 2009, at the Mojave Air and Spaceport in California.^[1] The Virgin Galactic spaceline plans to operate a fleet of five of these craft in passenger-carrying private spaceflight service starting no earlier than 2011.^[2][3]

Design and development

SpaceShipTwo technical diagram

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

SpaceShipTwo will carry passengers to space; the capacity will be eight people: six passengers and two pilots. The apogee of the new craft will be approximately 110 km (68 miles) and in the thermosphere, 10 km (6 miles) higher than both the SpaceShipOne target (though the last flight of the SpaceShipOne reached 112 km), and the Kármán line. SpaceShipTwo will reach 4,200 km/h (2,600 mph), using a single hybrid rocket motor (as seen in the technical diagram). It will launch at 15,200 m (50,000 ft) from its mother ship, White Knight Two. SpaceShipTwo's crew cabin is 3.66 m (12 ft) long and 2.28 m (7.5 ft) in diameter.^[4] The wing span is 8.23 m (27 ft), the length is 18.29 m (60 ft) and the tail height is 4.57 m (15 ft).^[5]

SpaceShipTwo uses a feathered reentry system, feasible due to the low speed of re-entry – by contrast, space shuttles and other orbital spacecraft re-enter at orbital speeds, closer to 25,000 km/h (16,000 mph), using heat shields. It is designed to reenter the atmosphere at any angle. "This vehicle is designed to go into the atmosphere in the worst case straight in or upside down and it'll correct", says Burt Rutan. As for safety, he states "This is designed to be at least as safe as the early airliners in the 1920s...Don't believe anyone that tells you that the safety will be the same as a modern airliner, which has been around for 70 years."^[6]

SpaceShipTwo and its new carrier aircraft, White Knight Two, which has already been finished and tested repeatedly, are roughly twice the size of the first generation spacecraft SpaceShipOne and mothership White Knight that won the Ansari X Prize. SpaceShipTwo will have 43 cm and 33 cm (17 and 13 in) diameter windows for the passengers' viewing pleasure,^[5] and all seats will recline back during landing to decrease the discomfort of G-forces.^[7] Reportedly, the craft can land safely even if "catastrophic damage" occurs during the flight.^[8]

Explosion

The first SpaceShipTwo under wraps, about 60% complete during the rollout ceremony for White Knight Two.

Wikinews has related news: Blast kills three at Mojave Spaceport, California

On July 26, 2007 a fatal explosion occurred at the Mojave airport during a fuel flow test that included filling the oxidizer tank with 4,500 kg (10,000 pounds) of nitrous oxide followed by a 15 second cold flow injector test.^[9] The explosion was around 14:30 (2:30 PM). Though the tests did not ignite the gas, three employees were killed and three injured, two critically and one seriously, from shrapnel wounds.^[10]

Commercial introduction

Seen from the rear.

In August 2005, the president of space tourism company Virgin Galactic stated that if the suborbital service with SpaceShipTwo is successful, the follow-up SpaceShipThree will be an orbital craft.^[11]

On September 28, 2006, Sir Richard Branson unveiled a mock-up of the SpaceShipTwo passenger cabin at the NextFest exposition, in the Javits Convention Center, New York.^[12]

The design of the vehicle was revealed to the press in January 2008, with the statement that the vehicle itself was around 60% complete.^[4] The launch customer of SpaceShipTwo is Virgin Galactic, which will have the first five units, and exclusive craft rights for the first few years.

Following 50–100 test flights, the first paying customers are expected to fly aboard the craft in 2011.^{[13][unreliable source?][14][15]} Refining the projected schedule in late 2009, Virgin Galactic has declined to announce a firm schedule for commercial flights, but did reiterate that initial flights would take place from Spaceport America. Commercialty will be based on a "safety-driven schedule" but they hope to achieve it "within two years."^[16] In addition to making suborbital passenger launches, Virgin Galactic will market SpaceShipTwo for suborbital space science missions.^[16]

The unveiling and rollout of SpaceShipTwo occured on 7 December 2009.

Flight test program

In October 2009, Virgin Galactic CEO Will Whitehorn outlined the flight test program for SpaceShipTwo. The test program will include seven phases: vehicle ground testing, captive carry under WhiteKnightTwo, unpowered glide testing, subsonic testing with only a brief firing of the rocket, supersonic atmospheric testing, then rocket into suborbital space, and finally execute a detailed and lengthy process with US Federal government regulator FAA/AST to demonstrate system robustness and eventually obtain a commercial launch license to begin commercial operations.^[16]

Spacecraft

Artist's concept of WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo together on ascent

Five vehicles have been ordered by Virgin Galactic.^[17] As of October 2007^[update], only the first two have been named, the VSS (Virgin Space Ship) Enterprise,^[18] and the VSS Voyager.^[19] Both are in development.^[20]

1. VSS Enterprise^[21] (2009)
2. VSS Voyager^[19]
3. Not yet Named
4. Not yet Named
5. Not yet Named

Flight

More than 65,000 would-be space tourists have applied for the first batch of 100 tickets. The price will initially be $200,000.^[22] The duration of the flights will be approximately 2.5 hours, though only a few minutes of that will be in space.

In December 2007 Virgin Galactic had 200 paid-up applicants on its books for the early flights, and 95% were passing the 6-8 g centrifuge tests.^[23]

Launch site

The SpaceShipTwo craft will take off from the Mojave Spaceport in California during testing. Spaceport America (formerly Southwest Regional Spaceport), a $200 million spaceport in New Mexico partly funded by the state government^{[citation needed]}, will become the permanent launch site when commercial launches begin.^[4] The company is also exploring launches from spaceports in Saudi Arabia^{[verification needed]} and the UK.^[24]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: SpaceShipTwo

• Official site – Scaled Composites
• Formation of The Spaceship Company – space.com
• The Birth of SpaceShipTwo – SpaceDaily
• Virgin soars towards new frontier – BBC News
• Space or Bust: Feature article on space tourism – Cosmos Magazine
• What is Virgin Galactic? – Virgin Galactic
• Space Law in Paris – Space Law Probe
• Human spaceflight goes commercial – BBC News
• Videoblog of Wired NEXTFEST – People With Ideas
• CNET Images of SS2 mockups – CNET News
• NASA plans to hitch a lift on SpaceShipTwo – Flight International, 2007-02-27; references "SpaceShipFour (SS4) that could serve as a satellite launcher"

v • d • e The Spaceship Company Companies Virgin Galactic (Virgin Group) · Scaled Composites (Northrop Grumman) · Mojave Aerospace Ventures People Richard Branson · Burt Rutan · Paul Allen · Mike Melvill · Brian Binnie Ships SpaceShipOne · White Knight · SpaceShipTwo · (Enterprise · Voyager) · White Knight Two · (Eve) · SpaceShipThree Sequence Tier One · (11P · 13P · 14P · 15P · 16P · 17P) · Tier 1b · Tier Two Places Mojave Spaceport · Spaceport America · Spaceport Sweden See also Ansari X Prize · Kármán line · Space tourism · List of space tourism companies · Sub-orbital spaceflight · Suborbital spaceplane

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