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<\/p>\nVirgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company have announced new milestones in the assembly of the primary structures for the second SpaceShipTwo in its current fleet. A sister to VSS Unity, the yet-unnamed vehicle is set to launch customers into suborbital space in the 2020s. VSS Unity is being prepared for that first customer flight, although the start date for commercial operation is yet to be revealed.<\/p>\n
The company announced Tuesday that it has successfully mated the fuselage and cabin to the completed wing assembly. Also, the two tail booms have been mated to the spaceship\u2019s rear feather flap assembly.<\/p>\n
The part fabrication of the wing, fuselage, cabin, nose and feather flap primary structures is also now complete.<\/p>\n
These are two major milestones in the primary structure integration flow, allowing the vehicle to continue to press towards outfitting operations.<\/p>\n
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The second SpaceShipTwo under construction \u2013 Credit: Virgin Galactic & The Spaceship Company<\/p>\n
\u201cOur passionate and talented team has made great progress on the next SpaceShipTwo. Seeing VSS Unity adjacent to the assembly of the next vehicle as well as the cabin of our third spaceship makes it very clear that we are building a fleet of remarkable spaceplanes for commercial service,\u201d said Enrico Palermo, President of The Spaceship Company.<\/p>\n
Also, the majority of systems integration tasks for the wing is complete, as well as the build of the cabin crew station.<\/p>\n
SpaceShipTwo vehicles are assembled in a modular fashion, with the cabin, fuselage, wing and feather assemblies built in parallel.<\/p>\n
The company noted that via \u2018Employing Design For Manufacturability and Assembly (DFMA) techniques\u2019, this approach grants easier access for systems integration earlier in the build process, as well as an overall shorter assembly duration.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore mating the two assemblies, the metrology team used laser trackers to capture precise measurements of the fuselage and cabin and the wing,\u201d added the Virgin Galactic update. \u201cThese measurements confirmed that the assemblies would come together as they were designed to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Space Shuttle models (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n Virgin Galactic also noted that the feather assembly is also taking shape in a parallel flow. The inboard skins have been bonded to the boom internal structures, rotated vertical, and mounted on the feather flap assembly.<\/p>\n The modular integration of the SS2 elements \u2013 credit: Virgin Galactic and The Space Ship Company.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is exciting to imagine these two vehicles operating shoulder-to-shoulder from Spaceport America in New Mexico,\u201d added George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a strong block design which we believe we can replicate to build the remainder of the fleet, continuing our march toward commercial service.\u201d<\/p>\n As to how many SpaceShipTwo vehicles will be built, this will be dependant on demand. However, that demand could be potentially large.<\/p>\n VSS Unity and the new vehicle will be based at Spaceport America in New Mexico. However, Sir Richard Branson has noted his wish to set up numerous \u2018spaceports\u2019 around the world, potentially creating a network for high speed \u201cpoint-to-point\u201d commercial transportation.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/NSF-2019-09-17-15-45-58-866.jpg\")
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