1.04.2021
Virgin Galactic rolled out its latest spaceship as the company gets ready to resume test flights in the coming months at its headquarters in the New Mexico desert
In this undated photo provided by Virgin Galactic is the VSS Imagine, the first SpaceShip III in the Virgin Galactic Fleet in Mojave, Calif. Virgin Galactic rolled out its newest spaceship Tuesday, March 30, 2021, as the company looks to resume test flights in the coming months at its headquarters in the New Mexico desert. Company officials said it will likely be summer before the ship undergoes glide flight testing at Spaceport America in southern New Mexico. Virgin Galactic
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Virgin Galactic rolled out its newest spaceship Tuesday as the company looks to resume test flights in the coming months at its headquarters in the New Mexico desert.
Company officials said it will likely be summer before the ship — designed and manufactured in California — undergoes glide flight testing at Spaceport America in southern New Mexico. That will coincide with the final round of testing for the current generation of spacecraft, which will be the one that takes British billionaire and Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson to the fringes of space later this year.
CEO Michael Colglazier said the addition of the new ship marks the beginning of Virgin Galactic having a fleet that will one day be capable of ferrying paying customers and scientific payloads from spaceports around the globe. The company is still aiming for commercial operations to begin next year following testing and a few months of downtime for maintenance and other upgrades.
Virgin Galactic has reached space twice before — the first time from California in December 2018. The company marked its second successful glide flight over Spaceport America last June.
Virgin Galactic is one of a few companies looking to cash in on customers with an interest in space. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launched a new capsule in January as part of test as it aims to get its program for tourists, scientists and professional astronauts off the ground.
The mirror-like finish on Virgin Galactic's new ship is as much about aesthetics as it is about function. A key part of the ship's thermal protection system, Colglazier said it also was chosen so the craft could take on the look and feel of its surroundings — whether it's on Earth, in the sky or in space.
The other task of the engineers was to create a new version that would be easier to manufacture and to maintain.
“Obviously for us to take tens of thousands of people to space, we need a number of ships. But it really matters then how often can each of these ships fly,” Colglazier said. “We expect as we get going on this to see a much quicker turnaround time and that really will help us grow the business.”
First, Virgin Galactic needs regulatory approval for the current generation and that means successful rocket-powered test flights.
The first powered test from Spaceport America was scheduled for December but computer trouble caused by electromagnetic interference prevented the spaceship’s rocket from firing properly. Instead of soaring toward space, the ship and its two pilots were forced to make an immediate landing.
The test was rescheduled for February but then scrapped as the team continued working on the interference issue. Colglazier said the flight now is scheduled for May.
The delay didn't help stock prices. Colglazier said while it's important to put points on the board and meet market expectations, the company's focus is on safety at each step and the decades ahead.
“I think this is moving as we want it to move. It is stepwise — that is what we want to do with human spaceflight," he said, “but you can also see the monument building. We’re excited for this unveiling today and we’re excited for May and we’re excited for the summer to come.”
Quelle: abcNews
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Virgin Galactic rolls out first SpaceShip III spacecraft, 'VSS Imagine'
March 30, 2021
— Virgin Galactic is ready for you to "Imagine" your ride to space.
The space tourism company on Tuesday (March 30) revealed the "VSS Imagine," its first Spaceship III, a shiny new model of its suborbital spacecraft designed to fly passengers and payloads on brief trips into space. The new Virgin SpaceShip (VSS) has the same overall outline as the previous SpaceShipTwo, but features a modular construction and a full-body, mirror-like finish.
"Virgin Galactic spaceships are built specifically to deliver a new, transforming perspective to the thousands of people who will soon be able to experience the wonder of space for themselves. As a SpaceShip III class of vehicle, 'Imagine' is not just beautiful to look at, but represents Virgin Galactic's growing fleet of spaceships," Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, said in a statement.
Like the X-PRIZE winning SpaceShipOne and experimental SpaceShipTwo that came before it, SpaceShip III will take off from a runway mounted under a carrier aircraft. Once at altitude, the winged spacecraft will drop away from its mothership and the two pilots aboard SpaceShip III will ignite a rocket motor, accelerating the vehicle toward the edge of space.
Up to six passengers will experience several minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of Earth before the spacecraft feathers its tail booms for the re-entry into the atmosphere. The vehicle will then glide back to a runway touchdown.
Since 2004, Virgin Galactic has sold more than 600 tickets for the experience, for prices between $200,000 and $250,000. The company is now accepting $1,000 fully-refundable deposits to hold a place in line for when ticket sales resume at an increased per seat cost.
The new VSS Imagine and its next-to-be-built sister ship, the VSS Inspire, benefit from the experience that Virgin Galactic gained from flying and servicing its two SpaceShipTwo spacecraft, the ill-fated VSS Enterprise and still-flying VSS Unity. The primary advancement with the new SpaceShip III-class vehicles is improved maintenance access, which is intended to increase the flight rate.
Virgin Galactic is targeting 400 SpaceShip flights per year, per spaceport, after a multi-year development effort.
The VSS Imagine also debuts enhancements to the Virgin Galactic astronaut experience. The new SpaceShip III livery is designed to reflect the surrounding environment, changing color and appearance as it climbs from the ground upwards to space. The exterior coating offers thermal protection while "reflecting our inherent human fascination with space and the transformative experience of spaceflight," the company said.
"VSS Imagine and Inspire are stunning ships that will take our future astronauts on an incredible voyage to space," said CEO Michael Colglazier. "Their names reflect the aspirational nature of human spaceflight."
As VSS Imagine begins ground tests, manufacturing will progress on VSS Inspire at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Glide tests with Imagine are slated to follow in the summer.
"Our current flight test protocol for the first SpaceShip III vehicle calls for four glide flights and four powered flights, and we expect the spaceflights will be revenue-producing," Colglazier said on an earnings call with investors in late February. "Following our initial glide flight test, there will be a multi-month period of analysis and modification to the spaceship before we bring it out for our final glide test and power test."
Flight tests are also to resume with VSS Unity, after a rocket motor failed to ignite on a December spaceflight attempt. Unity is next set to fly from Spaceport America in New Mexico, Virgin Galactic's base of commercial operations, in May.
Quelle: CS