Tag: Virgin Galactic
-
Virgin Galactic receives FAA license to fly SpaceShipTwo – and it’s taxiing on runway
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, known as VSS Unity, is pulled behind a Range Rover Autobiography vehicle during its first taxi test at California’s Mojave Air and Space Port. (Credit: Virgin Galactic) Virgin Galactic says it’s received an operator license from the Federal Aviation Administration for flying its SpaceShipTwo rocket plane into outer space with commercial…
-
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin venture gets set to pick up the pace for spaceship test flights
Blue Origin’s New Shepard spaceship rises from its launch pad in June. (Credit: Blue Origin) Blue Origin, the space venture founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, plans to accelerate its current once-every-eight-weeks schedule for flight tests of its New Shepard suborbital spaceship, leading up to the first crewed flights next year, one of the company’s…
-
Virgin Galactic preparing for busy LauncherOne future
While Virgin Galactic prepare to restart test operations with its SpaceShipTwo vehicle, the company has revealed an ambitious future for its LauncherOne system – including a home base in California that is currently “too big” for their needs, but will allow for the expectation for dozens of missions per year. LauncherOne will be tasked with…
-
Virgin Galactic preparing for busy LauncherOne future
While Virgin Galactic prepare to restart test operations with its SpaceShipTwo vehicle, the company has revealed an ambitious future for its LauncherOne system – including a home base in California that is currently “too big” for their needs, but will allow for the expectation for dozens of missions per year. LauncherOne will be tasked with…
-
Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin highlight small steps toward giant space leaps
Virgin Galactic’s second SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, known as VSS Unity, is brought out from its hangar in Mojave, Calif. A portion of the plane’s WhiteKnightTwo mothership can be seen at the right edge of the frame. (Credit: Virgin Galactic) In the past few weeks, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space venture and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin…
-
Moses looking to guide VSS Unity to her North Star
Virgin Galactic’s Senior Vice President of Operations, Mike Moses, spoke of the goal of installing a “North Star” safety culture into the VSS Unity, following her rollout ceremony on Friday. The highly respected former Space Shuttle Launch Integration Manager played a major role in helping the Shuttle orbiter’s “finish strong” and now aims to help Virgin Galactic’s…
-
VSS Unity: Virgin Galactic christens a reborn SpaceShipTwo, with assist from Stephen Hawking
Virgin Galactic’s second SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, dubbed the VSS Unity, rolls out under the spotlights at the company’s hangar in Mojave, Calif. (GeekWire photo by Alan Boyle) MOJAVE, Calif. – Sixteen months after Virgin Galactic’s first SpaceShipTwo rocket plane was lost amid tragedy, the second SpaceShipTwo was christened Virgin Spaceship Unity today with a smashed bottle…
-
Stephen Hawking will help Virgin Galactic roll out second SpaceShipTwo on Feb. 19
British physicist Stephen Hawking addresses Virgin Galactic customers at Cambridge University. (Credit: Richard Branson via YouTube) More than a year after the first SpaceShipTwo rocket plane was destroyed in a fatal test flight, Virgin Galactic says the second SpaceShipTwo is ready for its California rollout on Feb. 19 – and famed British physicist Stephen Hawking is invited.…
-
Billionaire Space Club pits Elon Musk vs. Jeff Bezos vs. Richard Branson vs. Paul Allen and more
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (in hat and sunglasses) pops open a bottle of champagne after Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket landing in November. (Credit: Blue Origin) When Jeff Bezos welcomed SpaceX to the rocket landing “club” last week, it set off a round of twittering over whether Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture and fellow billionaire…
-
Virgin Galactic gets a 747 jet to serve as flying launch pad for its LauncherOne rocket
An artist’s conception shows a Virgin Galactic 747 jet carrying a LauncherOne rocket. (Credit: Virgin Galactic) Virgin Galactic showed off its latest mothership today: a Boeing 747-400 jet that it acquired from its corporate cousins at Virgin Atlantic to serve as the platform for its LauncherOne rocket. LauncherOne is designed to be launched from a…