Virgin Galactic unveils new SpaceShipTwo; dubbed VSS Unity
Virgin Galactic on Friday unveiled a new SpaceShipTwo, more than a year after the first was destroyed in a fatal test flight accident.
Dubbed the VSS Unity, the suborbital spaceship designed to fly two pilots and six passengers will begin a test program that the company hopes will culminate in the start of its commercial spaceline service from Spaceport American in New Mexico.
Company officials, however, declined to put any timeframe on when the vehicle would be ready for commercial operations, saying it would depend on test results, according to reporters at the event in Mojave, California.
SpaceShipTwo takes off from a runway beneath the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft, then is launched at about 45,000 feet. After rocketing into space for minutes in microgravity, the ship deploys glides back down to a runway landing.
NTSB: Pilot error, poor design caused SpaceShipTwo accident
On Oct. 31, 2014, the first SpaceShipTwo, VSS Enterprise, broke apart over Mojave during a rocket-powered test flight, killing co-pilot Michael Alsbury and seriously injuring pilot Peter Siebold.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators concluded Alsbury had prematurely released tail fins designed to feather up and down during re-entry and landing, causing the vehicle travelling faster than the speed of sound to lose control.
The board blamed poor design for making the error possible. Virgin Galactic said it has implemented a fix to prevent a recurrence.
From the Feb. 20, 2016 Space Notebook.