spacetoday.net: SpaceShipTwo makes first glide flight

Posted: Mon, Oct 11, 2010, 7:00 AM ET (1100 GMT)
SpaceShipTwo first glide flight (Virgin Galactic)

SpaceShipTwo, the suborbital space tourism spacecraft being developed by Scaled Composites for Virgin Galactic, made its first free, if unpowered, flight on Sunday morning. SpaceShipTwo was carried aloft by its WhiteKnightTwo aircraft and released at an altitude of 13,700 meters; it glided to a landing at Mojave Air and Space Port in California just over 10 minutes later. Virgin and Scaled pronounced the flight a success, demonstrating the flying characteristics of the vehicle. Additional glide tests are likely before the companies move on to powered test flights. Eventually SpaceShipTwo will perform suborbital flights, carrying two pilots and six passengers to an altitude of over 100 kilometers.