SAN FRANCISCO – Wealthy travelers may soon be carried on a suborbital voyage into the space propelled by a unique spacecraft that showcases a fusion between a space shuttle and a common airplane.
British millionaire Richard Branson and aerospace designer Burt Rutan pulled back the hangar doors of an experimental facility in Mojave Desert on Monday, July 27 to unveil a new aircraft carrier. The carrier will launch into space a handful of scientists and passengers on board the SpaceShipTwo shuttle for test flights beginning next year.
“Burt [Rutan] and his team have created a beauty and this is a very proud day for us all,” said Branson, adding that the roll-out of the mother ship is evidence that the Virgin Galactic, the spacecraft building company, is making tremendous progress towards the goal of safe commercial operation.
The one-of-a kind space glider will be able to transport people around the planet, gliding outside the atmosphere. Space tourists will marvel at the beauty of our planet and experience the freedom of weightlessness from aboard the spacecraft, according to Branson.
So far, about 200 rich space travelers from 30 countries booked $200,000 flights on the new spacecraft.
In July last year, the spacecraft’s engine ruptured during a routine ground check-up killing three people in the accident. Scientists from the company and investigators are still trying to find out what might have been the reason for the fatal explosion.
The twin-fuselage aircraft named WhiteKnightTwo will carry SpaceShipTwo shuttle high into suborbital space underneath a single wing spanning 140 feet.
The carrier also has a unique heavy lift, high altitude capability and an open architecture driven design which provides for maximum versatility in the weight, mass and volume of its payload potential. It has lift capability is over 30 percent greater than a fully crewed SpaceShipTwo vehicle, and has a maximum altitude over 50,000 feet, as well as ability for long duration flights.
Virgin Galactic says that the powerful four-engine, all carbon composite vehicle of this size represents a giant leap in technology, and it has already been identified as a dramatically more fuel efficient aircraft by the commercial aviation sector.
The vehicle, soon to be dubbed Eve, is named after Bronson’s mother, according to Virgin Galactic engineers represents ground-breaking aerospace technology. It is the world’s largest all-carbon composite aircraft and many of its component parts have been built using composite materials for the very first time.
“Our population is now heading to 9 billion people by the middle of this century -- that’s three times more than when I was born. With the end of the oil era approaching, and climate change progressing faster than most models have been predicting, the utilization of space is essential,” said Bronson.
