Branson's Virgin Galactic successfully reaches space

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

Branson's Virgin Galactic successfully reaches space

13 December 2018

The latest test flight by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic successfully rocketed to space and back.

The firm's SpaceShipTwo passenger rocket ship reached a height of 82.7km, beyond the altitude at which space is said to begin.

It marked the plane's fourth test flight and followed earlier setbacks in the firm's space programme.

Sir Richard is in a race with Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos to send the first fee-paying passengers into space.

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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46550862

[Nitram]

1. Is this one vessel and two boosters? Do they separate at some point? Are there 3 pilots?

[Eugene]

2. Two planes, a carrier with a space plane as a parasite in the middle.

They separate at about 40,000 feet. The VSS Unity space plane had two pilots and a dummy passenger.

The Scaled Composites Model 348 WhiteKnightTwo (WK2)


Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News


Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

[link:|Photos: VSS Unity’s first powered test flight] (Spaceflight Now)

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/04/06/photos-vss-unitys-first-powered-test-flight/

[Nitram]

3. Thanks for posting the photos. I had no idea how innovative this project was.

[DavidDvorkin]

4. Altitude but not speed

It reached about a tenth of orbital velocity.

It's an important step, but it's quite a way from a useful space plane.