Virgin Galactic made a major milestone last weekend in its plans to run a commercially viable space travel service. Virgin Galactic have been taking orders from tourists since 2005 for a service that saves costs and fuel because the spacecraft launches from a high altitude plane. The test showed the return of the spacecraft to an airbase after a successful launch of the craft from 45,000 feet.
Enterprise made its first solo test flight in California on Sunday, BBC reported . The spaceship was carried to 45,000 feet by a plane, then dropped to glide back to earth.
Virgin Galactic plans to charge $200,000 to take passengers on short journeys above the atmosphere. The company has already taken deposits from 370 customers.
"This was one of the most exciting days in the whole history of Virgin," said Richard Branson, billionaire founder of the Virgin empire.
The Enterprise will be able to carry two crewmembers and six passengers.
A carrier plane will carry the Enterprise to its launch altitude, then release the craft in mid-air. Enterprise will then ignite its single hybrid rocket engine to blast into space.
As the first commercial suborbital space venture, Virgin is being watched closely by government and the industry and safety is, of course, a primary consideration. All systems were checked, the reusable spacecraft's stall characteristics and general flight behavior were assessed and actual performance was checked against data projected by simulation. Siebold and Alsbury got in one practice approach at altitude before heading for the real thing. "The VSS Enterprise was a real joy to fly, especially when one considers the fact that the vehicle has been designed not only to be a Mach 3.5 spaceship capable of going into space but also one of the worlds highest altitude gliders," Siebold said.
Enterprise made its first solo test flight in California on Sunday, BBC reported . The spaceship was carried to 45,000 feet by a plane, then dropped to glide back to earth.
Virgin Galactic plans to charge $200,000 to take passengers on short journeys above the atmosphere. The company has already taken deposits from 370 customers.
"This was one of the most exciting days in the whole history of Virgin," said Richard Branson, billionaire founder of the Virgin empire.
The Enterprise will be able to carry two crewmembers and six passengers.
A carrier plane will carry the Enterprise to its launch altitude, then release the craft in mid-air. Enterprise will then ignite its single hybrid rocket engine to blast into space.
As the first commercial suborbital space venture, Virgin is being watched closely by government and the industry and safety is, of course, a primary consideration. All systems were checked, the reusable spacecraft's stall characteristics and general flight behavior were assessed and actual performance was checked against data projected by simulation. Siebold and Alsbury got in one practice approach at altitude before heading for the real thing. "The VSS Enterprise was a real joy to fly, especially when one considers the fact that the vehicle has been designed not only to be a Mach 3.5 spaceship capable of going into space but also one of the worlds highest altitude gliders," Siebold said.
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