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Notes From Virgin’s First Powered Flight

Here is the official video news release from Monday’s successful powered supersonic flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip Two (VSS Enterprise).

Scaled Composites posted the following comments in their flight log for Powered Flight 01, which was the 115th flight for White Knight Two:

Monday we “lit the candle” for the first time. SS2 control and handling was very positive during its first supersonic, rocket-powered flight. The motor operated as designed and provided a smooth but noticeable/ significant push through the sound barrier. The boost was terminated at the intended shutdown duration of 16 seconds. Trajectory was nominal with Mike [Alsbury] & Mark [Stucky] topping out at 1.22 Mach and 56,200 feet. Post shutdown glide was nominal. The vehicle and the team performed as expected – excellent! We’d like to thank our team, our many vendors, and the support of Virgin for making today a possibility. The fun has only just begun!

Written by Astro1 on May 1st, 2013 , Virgin Galactic
Godspeed, SpaceShip Two

Virgin Galactic SpaceShip Two first powered flight test

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip Two went supersonic today on its first powered flight test.

Virgin Galactic broke the news in a series of tweets:

For the 1st time ever, SS2 has lit her rocket engine in flight! A major milestone in human spaceflight.

Wheels stop—SpaceShipTwo safely on the ground after a triumphant day in the sky. So proud of our team! Pics, video, details coming soon

Pilots Stucky and Alsbury confirm: SpaceShipTwo exceeded the speed of sound on today’s flight! Photos, video, and details to follow

Video and press release follow.

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Written by Astro1 on April 29th, 2013 , Virgin Galactic
Spaceflight Approaches Its Henry Ford Era

Ford Model T

In 2007, Time magazine proclaimed the Ford Model T to be one of the “50 Worst Cars of All Time.”

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Written by Astro1 on February 19th, 2013 , Commercial Space (General), Virgin Galactic, XCOR Aerospace
New Mexico Reaches Compromise on Spaceport Liability Bill

The New Mexican standoff has ended. Legislators have reached a compromise to resolve a liability that threatened to turn Spaceport America into a ghost town.

The issue hinges on liability waivers for spaceflight participants, who fly under the FAA’s doctrine of “informed consent.” The state needs to pass legislation to ensure that those waivers will stand up in court. This is similar to liability protection which the state provides for other industries, such as skiing and horseback riding, where the participant accepts a risk.

New Mexico has existing legislation that protects space-vehicle operators from lawsuits by spaceflight participants, but the existing legislation does not extend to vehicle and part manufacturers. That is a big concern for Virgin Galactic, which recently acquired 100% ownership in The SpaceShip Company, making it the manufacturer as well as operator. Virgin Galactic is the anchor tenant at SpacePort America, and there was concern that Virgin might pull out if the law was not extended to cover manufacturers.

Adding to New Mexico’s woes is the fact that other states, such as Texas, have already passed liability legislation that covers manufacturers.

New Mexico lawmakers have been trying to pass a more comprehensive spaceflight-participant liability bill since 2011, but their efforts have been blocked by the lobbying of trial lawyers.

Yesterday, it was announced that the two sides had reached a compromise which will allow legislation to pass this year. According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, the new bill will allow lawsuits against manufacturers but impose a cap on damages. In return, Virgin Galactic would extend its lease on facilities at Spaceport America, which is currently set to expire in 2018.

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Written by Astro1 on January 23rd, 2013 , Spaceports, Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic Payload Users Guide Released

A new version of the Virgin Galactic Payload Users Guide has been released. It is available for download at http://www.virgingalactic.com/uploads/VG_Web_PayloadUsersGuide_20130103.pdf.

The document contains no ITAR-restricted information.

Virgin Galactic SpaceShip Two flight profile

Written by Astro1 on January 8th, 2013 , Virgin Galactic
LauncherOne Video

[youtube-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAdV9fqllRk&w=700]

Virgin Galactic posted this video back in July.

Rewatching the video, it’s interesting to note Sir Richard Branson’s statement, “LauncherOne will… leverage the unique manufacturing and flight-test capabilities of Virgin Galactic’s sister-company TSC [The SpaceShip Company].” There is no mention of Scaled Composites.

Earlier this month, Virgin Galactic acquired full ownership of The Spaceship Company, which was previously 40% owned by Scaled Composites. The announcement was made quietly, after close of business on a Friday afternoon prior to a Monday holiday while SpaceX was dominating industry headlines with an ISS resupply mission.

In retrospect, it appears that Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites were contemplated a separation for several months ahead of the announcement.

It’s also worth noting that there is no mention of LauncherOne on the Scaled Composites website. This raises some interesting questions about the team that’s developing LauncherOne. The TSC website seems to be down at the moment, but The Spaceship Company has seven job openings listed on Linkedin. None appear to be directly related to LauncerOne, however.

Written by Astro1 on October 21st, 2012 , Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic Acquires The SpaceShip Company

Virgin Galactic has acquired full interest in The SpaceShip Company, previously a joint venture of Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites. A brief press release appeared late yesterday afternoon:

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Written by Astro1 on October 6th, 2012 , Scaled Composites, Virgin Galactic
Sarah Brightman Outbids NASA?

ABC News is reporting that Phantom of the Opera actress/singer Sarah Brightman outbid NASA for a seat on a Soyuz flight to the International Space Station. Brightman reportedly bumped a NASA astronaut from the flight by agreeing to pay more than $51 million. (Update: NASA denies that any of its astronauts were bumped from the Soyuz flight. Update 2: Sarah Brightman has made an official announcement, as expected.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Astro1 on October 3rd, 2012 , Citizen Exploration, Space Adventures, Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic Promotional Video

Written by Astro1 on September 18th, 2012 , Virgin Galactic
Burt Rutan’s Vision

Burt Rutan has posted the slides from a presentation on Commercial Space Future Opportunities.

The presentation provides some interesting insights on Rutan’s personal vision for where SpaceShip Two is going. (This personal vision does not necessarily reflect the official policies of Virgin Galactic or even Scaled Composites, from which Rutan is now retired.)

For suborbital spaceflight, Rutan envisions “multi-spaceport operations with 40 spaceships” and competing spacelines flying over 100,000 people during the first 12 years of commercial operations. Although it is not explicitly stated, we’re guessing this means competing spacelines flying spaceships developed by Scaled Composites and does not consider competing designs. (Scaled has stated, in the past, that Virgin Galactic is the launch customer for SpaceShip Two but there would be other customers in the future.)

Rutan notes that ticket prices for suborbital flights are about 1% of those for orbital flights. He expects that prices for both will come down significantly as volume increases but the ratio between the two prices will remain about the same.

Written by Astro1 on August 22nd, 2012 , Scaled Composites, Virgin Galactic
SpaceShip 2.1

Aviation Week reports that Virgin Galactic is developing a liquid-propellant engine that will ultimately replace the hybrid rocket motor used in SpaceShip Two.

This report is being treated as a revelation, but it’s not really surprising. Doug Shane of Scaled Composites spoke of such a possibility at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Responsive Access to Space Technology Exchange conference back in 2006. Shane, who later replaced Burt Rutan as president of Scaled, said that changing out hybrid motors after each flight was an acceptable way of getting the suborbital spaceflight business started but they would want to switch to a “different kind of engine” at some point.

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Written by Astro1 on July 24th, 2012 , Scaled Composites, Virgin Galactic
SpaceShip Two delays?

The SpaceShip Two flight-test program may be experiencing some delays, if a new article in Flight Global is accurate.

The article quotes an unnamed Virgin Galactic source saying the company would have “some drop tests” in June or July and “a lot of drop tests” in the third quarter.

That would indicate progress for SpaceShip Two, which has not flown since it entered a deep stall during its last glide flight on September 29, 2011. It would be slower progress than recently expected, however. Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides had been predicting powered flights this summer. According to the new article, powered test flights are now expected to begin around the end of the year. By interesting coincidence, that’s the same time frame in which XCOR Aerospace expects to begin powered test flights of the Lynx.

Editorial note: We are not suggesting that Virgin Galactic / Scaled Composites and XCOR are in a race. Timelines for flight test are properly dictated by engineering and safety considerations. Both organizations have shown a high degree of professionalism, and we are confident that neither will allow its engineering judgement to be compromised by a “racing” mentality.

Written by Astro1 on May 11th, 2012 , Scaled Composites, Virgin Galactic, XCOR Aerospace
Dream Chaser tests hint at suborbital possibilities

Sierra Nevada has revealed details of its test plans for the Dream Chaser at Spaceflight Now.

Sierra Nevada expects to begin captive-carry tests of the Dream Chaser test article from a Sikorsky S-64  Skycrane helicopter soon, perhaps before the end of May. The first captive-carry tests will take place in Colorado. The test article will be shipped to California this summer for additional captive carry tests leading to drop tests and automated landings at Edward Air Force base. The drop tests will also use a helicopter, either a CH-53 Sea Stallion or CH-47 Chinook.

This would lead to manual landing tests with a suborbital flight article in 2014, followed by automated flights to orbit in 2015 and crewed orbital flights in 2016.

Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser test article

The 2014 suborbital vehicle suggests some interesting possibilities. A suborbital Dream Chaser might provide a backup for Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip Two, if that program runs into trouble.

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Written by Astro1 on May 10th, 2012 , Citizen Exploration, Sierra Nevada, Virgin Galactic
SpaceShip Two rocket motor fired

Scaled Composites recently completed the ninth full-scale firing of the RM2 rocket motor that will power SpaceShip Two. Scaled performed a 10-second burn followed by a 58-second burn, according to the test log.

The test continued evaluation of all systems and components including pressurization, valve/injector, fuel formulation and geometry, nozzle, structure, and performance. Scaled performed the first test-firing of a full-scale RM2 in April of 2009.

Virgin Galactic has stated that it intends to begin testing motors in powered flight on SpaceShip around the middle of this year.

Written by Astro1 on March 14th, 2012 , Citizen Exploration, Commercial Space (General), Scaled Composites, Virgin Galactic
Challenger Center teachers in space

June Scobee Rogers, founding chairman of the Challenger Centers for Space Science Education, intends to become a teacher in space flying on one of the new suborbital spacecraft.

Dr. Rogers revealed her plans at the 2012 Next Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in Palo Alto, California.

Update: Dr Alan Stern has revealed that Challenger has taken two of the six flights which the Suborbital Application Researchers Group purchased on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip Two. In addition to June Scobee Rogers, Challenger will pick one participant and one backup through a contest among the 48 Challenger Centers.

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Written by Astro1 on February 27th, 2012 , Citizen Exploration, Virgin Galactic