Virgin Galactic has began trials involving the second prototype of the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft, the VSS Unity which was unveiled on Feb 19....
Virgin Galactic has began trials involving the second prototype of the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft, the VSS Unity which was unveiled on Feb 19.
Maiden taxi test was carried out on Monday, to evaluate and calibrate the navigation and communications/telemetry systems.
For the taxi trials, VSS Unity was pulled by a Range Rover Autobiography, as the air launched spacecraft have only a rocket engine to ascend to space.
Ground test began after completing integrated systems verification and will now proceed to flight tests soon.
Meanwhile, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA-AST) has awarded Virgin Galactic an operating license for the spacecraft.
The FAA-AST approval which will ultimately permit commercial human space flights, preceded an in-depth review of the vehicle’s system design, safety analysis and flight trajectory analysis.
The first prototype VSS Enterprise was lost in an in-flight break up during flight testing in October 2014, near Mojave, killing one of the two pilots.
The SS2 is air launched from a mother ship WhiteKnight Two from an altitude of 50,000 ft. The rocket-plane then ascends to an altitude of 100 km above earth, on its own power, enabling the six passengers to experience micro gravity for up to 6 minutes, after which it glides back to the runway.
Maiden taxi test was carried out on Monday, to evaluate and calibrate the navigation and communications/telemetry systems.
For the taxi trials, VSS Unity was pulled by a Range Rover Autobiography, as the air launched spacecraft have only a rocket engine to ascend to space.
Ground test began after completing integrated systems verification and will now proceed to flight tests soon.
Meanwhile, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA-AST) has awarded Virgin Galactic an operating license for the spacecraft.
The FAA-AST approval which will ultimately permit commercial human space flights, preceded an in-depth review of the vehicle’s system design, safety analysis and flight trajectory analysis.
The first prototype VSS Enterprise was lost in an in-flight break up during flight testing in October 2014, near Mojave, killing one of the two pilots.
The SS2 is air launched from a mother ship WhiteKnight Two from an altitude of 50,000 ft. The rocket-plane then ascends to an altitude of 100 km above earth, on its own power, enabling the six passengers to experience micro gravity for up to 6 minutes, after which it glides back to the runway.
