14 DAY TRIAL // Officials with Virgin Galactic, the company that develops the SpaceShipTwo commercial suborbital spacecraft and its WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft, announced that the rocket-powered craft successfully conducted its third supersonic flight yesterday, January 11, 2014.
This was the third successful supersonic flight for SpaceShipTwo, and it set new altitude records. According to the company, the vehicle reached an altitude of 21,641 meters (71,000) feet, while traveling at Mach 1.4. The tests were carried out at the Mojave Air and Space Port, in California.
In a statement, representatives from the company led by Sir Richard Branson said that Virgin Galactic is currently on track towards beginning suborbital passenger flights on the SpaceShipTwo at the end of this year. A ticket on such a joyride would set customers back about $250,000 (€183,000).
Inside the spacecraft during its descent were Virgin Galactic chief pilot Dave Mackay and copilot Marck Stucky. This was the first time this duo flew a rocket-powered version of the spacecraft. During the flight, they analyzed how the SpaceShipTwo feathering system works.
The basic operating principles for this vehicle are relatively simple. After engineers attach it to the underside of the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, the latter takes off, and delivers the SpaceShipTwo to a location high above Earth's surface. After the two separate, the latter fires off its own internal rocket.
This allows the spacecraft to reach suborbital altitudes, where it spends several minutes before falling back down to Earth. During this interval, the six passengers and two crewmembers experience microgravity conditions similar to those on the International Space Station.
SpaceShipTwo then retracts its wings and falls to the ground, protected by the heat shield on its belly. The vehicle then lands on its own at the Mojave installation. Virgin Galactic plans to produce and operate several of these spacecraft at the same time, Space reports.
“I couldn't be happier to start the New Year with all the pieces visibly in place for the start of full space flights. 2014 will be the year when we will finally put our beautiful spaceship in her natural environment of space,” Sir Richard Branson said in a statement after the flight was completed.
“Today's flight was another resounding success. We focused on gathering more transonic and supersonic data, and our chief pilot, Dave, handled the vehicle beautifully. With each flight test, we are progressively closer to our target of starting commercial service in 2014,” added company CEO George Whitesides.
Virgin Galactic is rushing to bring its services to the market because more than 600 people have already made deposits with the company, paying for either a full ticket, or parts of it, well in advance.