Virgin Galactic Unveils Space Ship for Tourists
Space travel for tourists took one step closer to being a reality today.
British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic unveiled today the design of two aircraft that will begin taking tourists into space within the next few years.
The two ships, named SpaceShipTwo and White Knight Two, are currently under construction at the Scaled Composites factory in Mojave, California. They're based on the Rutan technology that won the X Prize back in 2004 — a $10 million US competition for the first privately built manned spacecraft to reach a height of 100 kilometers.
As with the X Prize, SpaceShipTwo will first hitch a ride from a mothership. White Knight Two, a high-altitude jet, will be powered by four Mississauga-made Pratt and Whitney PW308A engines. Once at a sufficient height, SpaceShipTwo would be released to fire its own rocket engine, carrying it to suborbital altitudes and giving passengers several minutes of weightlessness (to say nothing of the view).
"The designs of both the mothership and the new spaceship are absolutely beautiful and surpass any expectations..." said Branson.
Although several of Virgin Galactic's paying customers were in the crowd, the emphasis at the event was not solely on space tourism. White Knight Two has been designed to also carry satellites and payloads that could be launched into low-earth orbit by an unmanned booster rocket. There was also talk of point-to-point travel, where SpaceShipTwo (or its progeny) could slingshot halfway around the globe "able to take people from A to B around the atmosphere at literally incredible speeds," said Branson.
The initial wave of space tourists (Virgin has already received some $30 million US in deposits) will help fund future developments like this.
Virgin Galactic says test flights of White Knight Two will begin this summer. But it would not commit to when paying customers will fly. Instead, it stressed that rigorous safety milestones would have to be met before any manned suborbital flights take place.
For more information and photos, visit www.virgingalactic.com.