Video: Virgin Galactic’s Test Flight

White Knight Two, the Plane

From Wikipedia -

 The Scaled Composites Model 348 WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) is a jet-powered carrier aircraft which will be used to launch the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft. It is being developed by Scaled Composites as the first stage of Tier 1b, a two-stage to suborbital-space manned launch system. WK2 is based on the successful mothership to SpaceShipOne, White Knight, which itself is based on Proteus.

Virgin Galactic has ordered two WK2s.Together WK2 and SS2 form the basis for Virgin Galactic's fleet of suborbital spaceplanes.

The first WK2 is named VMS Eve after Richard Branson's mother; it was officially unveiled on July 28, 2008, and flew for the first time on December 21, 2008. The second is expected to be named VMS Spirit of Steve Fossett after Branson's close friend Steve Fossett.

 TIME LINE

Virgin Galactic contracted aerospace designer Burt Rutan to build the mothership and spacecraft.

    * On January 23, 2008 the WhiteKnightTwo design was revealed
    * On July 28, 2008 occured the completion and rollout of the first aircraft, Eve, (Tail Number: N348MS) at Scaled's Mojave headquarters. Branson predicted that the maiden space voyage would take place in 18 months: "It represents... the chance for our ever-growing group of future astronauts and other scientists to see our world in a completely new light."

The launch customer of WhiteKnightTwo is Virgin Galactic, which will have the first two units, and exclusive rights to the craft for the first few years.

FLIGHT TEST
The initial flight tests were planned to begin in early September 2008., but they were delayed.

    * December 12, 2008 -- WhiteKnightTwo did a low speed taxi trial at Mojave .
    * December 16, 2008 -- WhiteKnightTwo did a high speed taxi trial at Mojave .
    * December 21, 2008 -- WhiteKnightTwo flew for the first time.. The two pilots were Peter Siebold and co-pilot Clint Nicols.
    * February 5, 2009 -- Second test flight after some modifications to the airframe.
    * March 25, 2009 -- Third test flight into the troposphere was the fastest and longest yet: >140 knots and >18,000 feet. Seven additional tests were "successfully completed including in flight engine restarts, engine thrust asymmetry assessment and continued expansion of WK2’s operating envelope and evaluation of WK2’s handling qualities."}
    * April 20, 2009 -- Fourth test flight lasted over 4 hours and ended with slight damage to the rudder.

From WhiteKnightTwo,net - 

SpaceShipTwo is a suborbital spaceplane currently under development by The Spaceship Company, a joint venture between Scaled Composites and Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, as part of the Tier 1b program. The Virgin Galactic spaceliner plans to operate a fleet of five of these craft in passenger-carrying private spaceflight service starting in late 2009

The first spacecraft to be completed will be named VSS (Virgin Space Ship) Enterprise in honor of the fictional Starship Enterprise.

The SpaceShipTwo is, in part, based on technology developed for SpaceShipOne as part of the Scaled Composites Tier One program, funded by Paul Allen. The Spaceship Company is licensing this technology from Paul Allen's Mojave Aerospace Ventures.

According to an interview with designer Burt Rutan, the new craft will fly higher and have a longer downrange than SpaceShipOne, somewhere between 100 to 200 miles (160 to 320 kilometers). The maximum capacity will be eight people: six paying passengers and two pilots.

SpaceShipTwo will reach a speed of roughly 4000 km/h (2500 mph), using a single hybrid rocket motor. SpaceShipTwo uses a feathered re-entry system, feasible due to the low speed of re-entry — by contrast, space shuttles and other orbital spacecraft re-enter at orbital speeds, closer to 25000 km/h (16000 mph), requiring the use of heat shields. SpaceShipTwo will carry 6 passengers and 2 pilots and launch in midair at 15 km from its mother ship, WhiteKnightTwo.

The BBC reports that SpaceShipTwo's crew cabin will have about the same diameter as a Gulfstream V business jet, which is roughly 6 feet high by 7 feet wide (1.8 by 2.1 meters). Rutan is designing towards a maximum altitude of between 84 and 87 miles (135 to 140 km). The design of these craft was completed in late 2005, and the vehicle simulator was complete and construction had started by March 2006.

Both SpaceShipTwo and its new carrier aircraft, White Knight Two (first craft called Eve after Richard Branson's mother), will be roughly three times the size of the first generation spacecraft and mothership that won the Ansri X Prize. While details remain scant (although a sketch of SpaceShipTwo has appeared in Popular Mechanics, designer Burt Rutan says that SpaceShipTwo will have large porthole windowsfor the passengers' viewing pleasure, and all seats will recline back during landing to help decrease the discomfort of G-forces.Reportedly, the craft can land safely even if "catastrophic damage" occurs during the flight.

Video: Virgin Galactic’s Test Flight

More on Virgin Galactic, it looks like Richard Branson is currently touring the Middle East in search of a new spaceport location there.  The original Virgin Galactic goal was to have 3 or 4 permanent spaceports, one of which may be in the Middle East.  With all the oil revenue there, it would be a crime not to have a spaceport there.

Currently, Branson is in Dubai holding discussions with the UAE.  However, there is a possibility that such a spaceport could be located in a number of other Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia or Qatar.  Richard Branson stated,

We’d really like one of the spaceports to be in the Middle East and that’s why we are starting serious discussions, and actually quite advanced discussions, with the UAE and other Gulf governments and investor groups. [The National]

This would be a great leap for mankind to have a space tourism industry.  NASA has done well in the past, and so has the Soviet Space Program, but it is time for the private sector to make an attempt at colonizing space.