Virgin Galactic updates (Factory)

[DocM]

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=34685

The Spaceship Company opens assembly facility at Mojave Air and Space Port to build Virgin Galactic spaceships

Source: The Spaceship CompanyPosted Monday, September 19, 2011

MOJAVE, Calif. The Spaceship Company (TSC), the aerospace production joint venture of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites, achieved a significant milestone in making commercial space travel a reality with today's opening of its Final Assembly, Integration and Test Hangar, or FAITH, at Mojave Air and Space Port. The $8 million, modern, energy-efficient hangar supports the final stages of production for prime customer Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo, and will add new jobs to the commercial space industry at spaceports in Mojave and New Mexico.

Commenting on the grand opening, Virgin Group Founder Sir Richard Branson said, "Today marks another important step along the road to opening space for everyone. We're extremely proud of the new FAITH building, which is the world's first facility dedicated to producing private, commercial manned space vehicles. From this hangar, the talented team at The Spaceship Company will be at the forefront of making space access safe, reliable and affordable."

Located on taxiway-B, FAITH is a 68,000-square-foot, LEED-certified facility that will be used primarily for the final assembly, integration and testing of TSC vehicles before they are delivered to their customers. FAITH will also be used to support major return-to-base vehicle maintenance, and serve as TSC's operating headquarters.

"We take great pride in the opening of FAITH as an accomplishment for our company, our current and future customers and our industry," said The Spaceship Company Vice President, Operations Enrico Palermo. "Within this new facility, we will produce the highest quality commercial spaceflight systems."

FAITH completes the infrastructure needed to manufacture a fleet of TSC's two core products: the SpaceShipTwo (SS2) sub-orbital spaceship and the WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft. The facility is specifically sized to support fabrication of SS2 and WK2 with room to produce at least two of each ship at the same time.

"Not only are we welcoming a new neighbor at the Mojave Air and Space Port today, we're ushering in another phase in the development of commercial space travel," said President of Scaled Composites Doug Shane. "It's exciting to see the vision becoming a reality."

FAITH was completed within 10 months, as scheduled, and on budget by Bakersfield-based Wallace & Smith General Contractors. It is one of two facilities that TSC will use to produce commercial spacecraft. The other is a 48,000-square-foot existing building at the Mojave Air and Space Port that TSC recently upgraded to serve as the company's fabrication and vehicle sub-assembly facility. TSC has secured options to expand the size of the FAITH facility and build an adjacent flight test hangar, as the customer base grows.

The opening of FAITH also means a boost to our local economies with impact in California and New Mexico. TSC currently employs over 80 people and is looking to double its workforce within the next year, with numerous high-tech and engineering positions available in the next 90 days. "Despite the current state of the U.S. economy and rising unemployment, this is a strong time of growth for The Spaceship Company," Palermo said. "We are creating excellent, high-skilled job opportunities for individuals with aerospace, engineering and hands-on space program experience. We want employees who are passionate about developing new and innovative ways of accessing space."

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[DocM]

Aviation Week....

Virgin Galactic Nears Spaceship Crew Choice

LOS ANGELES — Virgin Galactic is close to finalizing the initial flight crews for its space tourism and science operations.

Three pilots will make up the first crew who will fly both the SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle and WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) mother ship. “There were 550 applicants, and we downselected to the finalists this summer,” says Virgin Galactic President and CEO George Whitesides.

Speaking at the Society of Experimental Test Pilots symposium in Anaheim, Calif., he adds that the first announcements are expected “this fall.” The three pilots will fly with Virgin Galactic chief pilot David Mackay, who recently made his first sortie in WK2. Minimum requirements for candidates include graduation from a recognized test pilot school and at least one tour of instruction at a school.

Mackay, a former Royal Air Force test pilot and captain with Virgin Atlantic Airways, flew as co-pilot with the Scaled Composites director of flight operations and test pilot, Peter Siebold, on the 72nd flight of WK2 on Aug. 31. That flight marked the first time a non-Scaled Composites test pilot has flown the aircraft.

Initial medical and training screening of the first batch of prospective passengers has cleared “all but two” to fly, Whitesides says. They range in age from “20 to 88” he adds. “The highest ‘G’ portion of training will be the biggest concern, but we think the largest portion of the population will be OK.”

The 2- hr. takeoff-to-landing flight profile includes climbing to 50,000 ft. carried beneath the WK2, release and a Mach 3.5 acceleration to rocket motor burnout at around 328,000 ft.

The vehicle reaches an apogee of 361,000 ft., providing the passengers with around 4 min. of microgravity. It then re-enters the denser atmosphere, experiencing a “short period” of up to 6g, Whitesides says.

“It is a doable step forward,” he says. “We could have done an orbital vehicle, but it would have cost $30 million per seat. So the point is it is a step forward.”

[PGHammer]

Embedded - it definitely has it - but remember what I've been saying about spaceplanes; they're useful for different missions than other spacecraft. As far as the Karman line - no problem. It's designed to clear it significantly, and if (as rumored) they ever replace the hybrid rocket with a liquid one for longer missions (maybe one of XCOR's) you might see it going intercontinental at much higher altitudes.

SS2 and XCOR's Lynx will be good for commercializing passenger flights, short duration scientific missions (NASA, SwRI and a ton of universities are signed up), flying small telescopes for Sophia-type missions, launching small satellites (acting as a flyback first stage), and for astronaut training (NASA signed up here too).

There have already been huge conferences about their scientific use, and a big advantage is that they can fly much larger payloads for a lot longer mission than sounding rockets, and much higher than stratospheric balloons.

Another possible option - hypersonic/semiballistic *passenger* flights. New York/Tokyo (or Washington-IAD/Beijing) as nonstop flights (neither is possible today) using any commercial airport capable of handling the now-retired Space Shuttle. (Other options - for the same reasons - DFW/Shanghai, LAX/De Gaulle One ([Paris]) or Tel Aviv/LAX.) Equally applicable for both SS2 and Lynx.

[DocM]

I see that as requiring -

1) a switch to a liquid fuel rocket engine (lighter & higher specific impulse)

2) a recoverable/re-usable liquid booster stage or a lightweight jet engine pod for initial boost

3) possibly the NOFBX monopropellant (non-cryo, non-toxic, cheap & very light aluminum alloy engines)

[DocM]

Mike Moses is leaving NASA to work for VG

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/12/us-space-shuttle-business-idUSTRE79B00H20111012

(Reuters) - Deputy space shuttle program manager and former flight director Mike Moses is leaving NASA to oversee operations for Virgin Galactic, the commercial spaceflight company owned by Richard Branson's Virgin Group, the company said on Tuesday.

Moses oversaw space shuttle operations during the final three years of the program, which ended this summer.

NASA is working on a heavy-lift rocket and capsule to fly astronauts to the moon, asteroids, Mars and other destinations beyond the International Space Station's 225-mile-high orbit.

"I'm more than onboard with NASA's plan," Moses told Reuters. "It's just that the operations of that system were still eight to 10 years away. I couldn't just push paper around and write requirements for the next 10 years so I'm going to take another shot at it here in the commercial sector."

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[DocM]

Virgin Galactic SS2/WK2 Payload Users Guide, in case anyone wants to put an experiment up....

http://www.virgingalactic.com/uploads/VG_Web_PayloadUsersGuide_20111206.pdf

Conducting Research on SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo - Payload Opportunities

We at Virgin Galactic believe that providing researchers and their experiments affordable, routine, and safe access to space is a core part of our mission. The same novel and innovative features that make SpaceShipTwo the ideal vehicle to carry our private passengers into space also make it a versatile and attractive research platform that we know will allow scientists, engineers, educators, and others to collect data and study questions in a way they have never before been able to do. The large volume and weight capacity, high apogee, and high flight rate of the WK2 and SS2 allow VG to offer a unique capability for payload and technology development in the upper atmosphere, outer space and microgravity environments.

As we enter into licensed commercial operations, Virgin Galactic will offer two main types of research flights on board SpaceShipTwo:

1) One type of flight offers researchers--whether they be academic or corporate, scientists or engineers, teachers or students--the opportunity to board SpaceShipTwo and fly to space with their experiments, becoming astronauts themselves as they conduct their research.

2) Other flights will carry only payloads. On these dedicated payload flights, as much as 1300 pounds (600 kg) worth of payloads will be mounted to our payload rack system, which takes the place of the seats normally in place for our astronaut customers. This system accommodates leading standards for mounting space experiments such as CubeSats, Mid-Deck Lockers, and 19 inch equipment racks; in addition, special payload sizes will be accommodated on a case-by-case basis. A Virgin Galactic Flight Test Engineer will be available on these flights to monitor and interact with the payloads as required.

To learn more about the research environment and interface requirements for SpaceShipTwo, please download our Payload Users' Guide.

Eventually, we expect that WhiteKnightTwo--the mothership used to carry SpaceShipTwo aloft on each mission--will also become available for researcher and payload flights. With its unique capabilities, including the ability to carry large payloads and to loiter at altitudes greater than 50,000 feet (15 km) for extended durations, WhiteKnightTwo also offers an attractive research platform. Additionally, WhiteKnightTwo may prove to be a useful stepping stone for researchers planning flights aboard SpaceShipTwo; with the cabins of the two vehicles being functionally identical, including the rack systems. More information about research flights aboard WhiteKnightTwo will be made available in the future; inquiries and requests are welcomed via email sent to research@virgingalactic.com. If interested in flying your researchers or payloads on board the revolutionary SpaceShipTwo platform, please send an email to research@virgingalactic.com.

Potential payload providers are also encouraged to visit the website of NASA's Flight Opportunities Program and their recent Announcement of Flight Opportunities. Through this program, NASA has chartered as many as three full flights of SpaceShipTwo to provide opportunities for engineers, technologists, and scientific researchers to fly cutting-edge experiments in suborbital space. NASA will be responsible for selecting proposals from among those contributed through the Announcement of Flight Opportunities; winning proposals will have the cost of their flight covered by NASA. Other NASA or NSF programs may cover the cost of payload development or data analysis.

[DocM]

New VG video shows a RM-2 engine test, the last drop-test and a few seconds of cockpit video.

As to progress: SS2 Enterprise is in the hangar getting her oxidizer tank and an RM-2 engine installed.

[DocM]

[Note:] = my comments.

Parabolic Arc....

Virgin Galactic CEO and President George Whitesides says powered SpaceShipTwo flights are set for this summer in Mojave:

?Over the next few months we?re integrating parts and pieces of the hybrid rocket motor into the SpaceShipTwo airframe, completing ground testing of the rocket motor, and then [will] try and start powered flight over the summer,? Whitesides told SPACE.com. Those rocket-powered flights, he said, will continue for some period of time.

[Note: SS2 #1 is designated VSS Enterprise]

Whitesides said it looks possible ?to get up to space altitude by the end of the year, if all goes well.? The next major follow-on steps, he said, involve obtaining a commercial operating license from the Federal Aviation Administration and moving operations from California to Spaceport America in New Mexico.

?We hope to get to space this year and our hope is to be able to start commercial operations from Spaceport America in 2013,? Whitesides said?.

Now under way is construction of the next WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo, taking place at The Spaceship Company (TSC) in Mojave, Calif. Eventually, Virgin officials envision a whole fleet of these systems to run frequent tourist joyrides to space.

[Note: SS2.#2 will be designated VSS Voyager]

?They have already started construction of the second vehicle pair,? Whitesides observed.

[DocM]

SS2 will use ISS style racks for experiments -

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=36230

http://nanoracks.com/

Virgin Galactic selects NanoRacks to conduct suborbital research aboard SpaceShipTwo

MOJAVE, Calif. - (Feb. 27, 2012) Virgin Galactic LLC, the world's first commercial spaceline, announced today that it has selected NanoRacks LLC to construct a rack system to allow research payloads to fly to space aboard Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo (SS2). With these new racks, SS2 will allow researchers to conduct experiments during several minutes of microgravity using a mounting system also employed on the International Space Station (ISS).

By providing routine access for research payloads to suborbital space, Virgin Galactic will expand current research capabilities beyond existing reduced gravity platforms such as drop towers and parabolic flights. SS2's large capacity allows as much as 1,300 pounds (600 kg) of payloads per flight. Additionally, some flights may also include researchers themselves, able to interact with their experiments in real time.

"Virgin Galactic's mission is to revolutionize access to space and NanoRacks' experience placing research payloads on other spacecraft will help us ensure that our vehicle has a simple and effective platform for researchers. The safety, flexibility, capacity and modularity of our new racks will make it easier for researchers to conduct cutting-edge experiments aboard our space vehicles," said George Whitesides, CEO and President of Virgin Galactic. "Reusable suborbital space vehicles will offer a new platform for scientific researchers and technologists. Making this announcement at the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference is ideal, as this conference is a powerful demonstration of the research community's interest in vehicles like SpaceShipTwo."

The racks flown on SS2 will allow mounting of any combination of non-standard and standard payloads. Standard payloads are based on configurations already in use on platforms like ISS, including middeck lockers and cargo transfer bags, as well as other common standards such as server racks. Standard racks will support up to 108 cubic feet of usable payload volume. Additionally, experiments can be positioned within the rack system for a view through Virgin Galactic's large, 17-inch-diameter-windows should acquisition of spectral data or imaging be desired.

"We are delighted to join Virgin Galactic in providing world-class research capabilities in the suborbital environment," said Jeffrey Manber, Managing Director of NanoRacks. "For the first time, we will have a seamless standard from suborbital research to utilization within the U.S. National Lab on the International Space Station. For researchers to have repeatable access to bouts of microgravity is an essential first step to extending their research program."

[DocM]

The FAA has given SS2 a GO for rocket powered flights

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/launch_license/active_permits/media/Scaled_Composites_SS2_EP_12-007.pdf

[DocM]

Some of the changes involve the addition or enlargement of strakes, winglets, to enhance control in the critical transonic region - the transition between subsonic and supersonic flight - and during the raising and lowering of the wings for feathered flight during re-entry. The attached image shows a strake on Concorde.

Expect a few short duration rocket powered flights to check these out, probably limited to 100,000 feet or so, before full-up full duration flights to beyond the K?rm?n line - space.

http://spaceportamerica.com/happenings/newsletter-2/

Anchor tenant Virgin Galactic announced the return of Spaceship Two to flight status after its down time for a few months for upgrades. Upgrades were necessary so that the vehicle can transition from subsonic glide flights to supersonic, rocket-powered flights. In late May, vehicle supplier Scaled Composites was granted an Experimental Permit by the FAA to conduct these rocket powered test flights.

[neoadorable]

thanks for this Doc...20 years from now do you think we'll finally move to proper orbital travel to replace the commercial jets of today? imagine flying from like Beijing to LA in a couple of hours...

[DocM]

I think the pieces are falling into place for transcontinental suborbital transports. Skylon is still makling good progress, Jeff Greason at XCOR is finally starting to talk a few details about their large runway launched orbiter, and Virgin Galactic has expressed one as a long term goal after SS2 is established. Even the US military has a flyback runway launcher in the works, which would make a 1.5 stage to orbit possible.

[DocM]

http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/blog/this-isnt-sci-fi

This isn't sci-fi

We are making fantastic progress on Virgin Galactic's preparations for travel to space. It has been an amazing, at times agonising process to get the space program this far, and as the weeks and months pass we are steadily witnessing more little bits of history.

The team just conducted an extremely significant night rocket motor firing, which has been described by Matt Stinemetze, Scaled Composites' Program Manager for the development and testing of our space vehicles, in the fantastically descriptive piece below. His words show the huge excitement now emanating from the Mojave Desert, as we move closer to breaking the sound barrier and then building up to full spaceflight in the coming months.

This project really means so much to all of the people involved, from the engineers to the future astronauts to supporters around the world who one day dream of going to space. Here are Matt's wonderful words to his team-mates:

We are making fantastic progress on Virgin Galactic's preparations for travel to space. It has been an amazing, at times agonising process to get the space program this far, and as the weeks and months pass we are steadily witnessing more little bits of history.

The team just conducted an extremely significant night rocket motor firing, which has been described by Matt Stinemetze, Scaled Composites' Program Manager for the development and testing of our space vehicles, in the fantastically descriptive piece below. His words show the huge excitement now emanating from the Mojave Desert, as we move closer to breaking the sound barrier and then building up to full spaceflight in the coming months.

This project really means so much to all of the people involved, from the engineers to the future astronauts to supporters around the world who one day dream of going to space. Here are Matt's wonderful words to his team-mates:

"8:00 pm. On the dirt berm north of the test site we?re far enough from the city and the airport lights that it?s dark. It?s dark enough in fact that overhead millions of stars are visible, but no moon. Yet another surreal late night at work for Scaled. The murmur from the 50 or so people on the berm has subsided and there is an eerie silence as you?re inside the last minute. In front of us four large floodlights illuminate the white bug; two red strobes flash on either end. It?s just far enough away and just bright enough that you have to squint to make out the details

Kawoomph!? Instantly any speaking subsides and if it doesn?t, you can?t hear it. A large yellow flame has suddenly erupted 50 feet behind the white structure and a deafening roar has filled the night. Simultaneously, a large column of brown dust billows up a mile behind the flame. A smooth, earthy, roar/rumble unlike anything you?ve heard encompasses you. As the first few seconds tick by the shock wears off and you find yourself wondering what those cars on the bypass must be thinking (I?m sure at least a couple folks wandered onto the sound bumpers at the shoulder, heads straining westward wondering what in the world they were seeing).

The scene is so surreal, so overwhelming that you mentally start and stop the count two or three times not remembering where you left off. You squint, strain and then as quickly as it started it whooshes to an abrupt stop. Your eyes flicker, a white blur stains your vision long after it?s over. Behind you in the far distance, several seconds after the flame subsides, the heavy rumble of the echo across the mountains rattles to a stop. Wahoo!! the hill erupts into jubilation?. This isn?t sci-fi, and it?s not the scene from a book. This is your program and it happened on Thursday night February 28th, 2013. The first in a rapid series of final confirmation firings leading up to SpaceShipTwo's first rocket powered flight was completed in dramatic style!"