Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is gearing up to send its space tourism spacecraft VSS Unity to the edge of space, to an altitude of around 80 km, on Thursday, Dec 13. The launch is expected to take place between 7:00 a.m. and noon from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
Even though, traditionally, space has be defined as the region above 100 km altitude, there has been considerable research and interest in redefining the boundary as 80 km. If successful, Virgin Galactic will get bragging rights to sending humans into (sub-orbital) space before SpaceX, Boeing and Blue Origin. Virgin Galactic technology is however not capable of launching typical satellites or sending humans to the ISS or beyond, which is the focus of the efforts by SpaceX and Boeing. However, a sister company Virgin Orbit is developing an air-launch system, using a modified Boeing 747, for deploying small satellites in Low Earth Orbit.
This flight will only carry two pilots but the eventual goal of Virgin Galactic is to send up to 6 tourists into sub-orbital space. The rocket and spacecraft technology will also be used to carry science payloads into sub-orbital space.
The first few trips to space will be flown by test pilots with no passengers. Branson has said that he will be the first passenger.
Watch this space and the Virgin Galactic home and twitter sites for updates. Previous events have not been live-streamed but videos get posted quickly after the short flight.
NASA Payload
This flight will carry 4 experimental science payloads for NASA.
See www.nasa.gov/… for details.
The July 2018 Flight
In July 2018, Virgin Galactic spacecraft VSS Unity was lifted by the carrier aircraft VMS Eve to a height of 14.173 km, when pilots Dave Mackay and Mike “Sooch” Masucci lit the spaceship’s rocket motor and took it on a near-vertical climb at Mach 2.47. The planned 42 seconds rocket burn took pilots and spaceship through the Stratosphere and, at an apogee of 52.059 km, into the Mesosphere for the first time. This was the third test within a span of 6 months, each test flight taking the spacecraft to higher altitudes and providing data on supersonic aerodynamics as well as thermal dynamics.
SpaceShipTwo
From www.virgingalactic.com/...
SpaceShipTwo is a reusable, winged spacecraft designed to carry eight people (including two pilots) into space safely and with high frequency.
SpaceShipTwo is powered by a hybrid rocket motor – combining elements of solid rockets and liquid rocket engines. Both types of rocket engine have important advantages; the hybrid aims to combine the simplicity of a solid motor with the controllability of a liquid. SpaceShipTwo’s rocket motor can be shut down quickly and safely at any point during the flight.
SpaceShipTwo's most innovative feature is its unique capability to change its shape in space to ensure a repeatable safe re-entry. By rotating its wings and tail booms upwards while in space, the vehicle’s stability and rate of deceleration in descent is controlled by aerodynamic forces. This “feathering” design takes the best from both the traditional capsule and winged space vehicle designs, and adds a little magic of its own. The “feathering” concept is often compared to a badminton shuttlecock or birdie – and proves that sometimes the most disruptive designs can emerge from the most humble of origins.
This spacecraft is named VSS Unity. It was given its name by Professor Stephen Hawking.
The Mothership
The double-fuselage mothership WhiteKnightTwo, named VNS Eve (after Richard Branson’s mother), will carry VSS Unity to an altitude of about 14 km, release it and then fly back to the airport.
Space Tourism
The SpaceShipTwo (SS2) spacecraft is projected to fly to a height of 110 km. SS2 will have a crew of two and room for six passengers. By August 2013, 640 customers had signed up for a flight, initially at a ticket price of $200K per person, but raised to $250K in May 2013. en.wikipedia.org/...
Outer Space
Currently, the boundary of outer space is defined by the Von Kármán Line, about 100 km above Earth’s surface. A new paper proposes that the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space be redefined at 80 km, just where the Mesosphere ends, also known as the mesopause, which is the coldest part of Earth's atmosphere with temperatures below −143 °C (−225 °F). The exact upper and lower boundaries of the mesosphere vary with latitude and with season (higher in winter and at the tropics, lower in summer and at the poles). See the paper for the history of the Von Kármán Line and the rationale for the new lower altitude definition.
The July 2018 flight reached an altitude of 52 km.
The December 2018 flight is expected to reach an altitude of 80 km.
The SpaceShipTwo (SS2) spacecraft is projected to fly to a height of 110 km.
Virgin Orbit
Besides space tourism, Virgin is also targeting launch services for small satellites into LEO orbit using the LauncherOne rocket system being developed by the sister company Virgin Orbit. The system uses a modified Boeing 747 to launch the LauncherOne rocket.
Epilogue
We may not be too crazy about space tourism, but we are not complaining if some rich and famous folks end up funding the development of a new generation of space technology, which will of course have applications beyond tourism.
This has been a busy month for space flights. It is exciting to see so much activity into launching satellites, ferrying humans and cargo to the ISS, a lander landing on Mars and a Chinese robotic mission to the moon.
How do you feel about space technology and its future?
Status Update
Parameter |
Value |
Altitude reached |
82.7 km |
Max. speed |
Mach 2.9 |
Further Reading
- Virgin Galactic aims to reach space soon with tourism rocket — phys.org/…
- Four NASA-Sponsored Experiments Set to Launch on Virgin Galactic Spacecraft — www.nasa.gov/...
- Virgin Galactic’s Rocket Man (Aug 2018) - www.newyorker.com/…
- Virgin Galactic SpaceshipTwo Flies into the Mesosphere (Jul 2018) — www.dailykos.com/…
- SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch with Booster Landing at Vandenberg AFB — www.dailykos.com/...
- Spacecraft Departures and Arrivals this Week, Dec 3, 2018 — www.dailykos.com/...