Private spaceship makes 1st solo flight

[Gundam]

Private spaceship makes 1st solo flight

Associated Press

Published Oct 11 2010

Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, or VSS Enterprise, glides toward the earth on its first test flight after release from the mothership, WhiteKnight2, also known as VMS Eve​

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Virgin Galactic's space tourism rocket SpaceShipTwo has made its first solo glide flight. SpaceShipTwo was carried aloft 13,700 metres Sunday morning by its mothership and released over the Mojave Desert. Company officials say SpaceShipTwo then landed at an airport runway on its own followed by the mothership. The entire flight took about 25 minutes.

SpaceShipTwo is undergoing rigorous testing before it can carry tourists to space. In the latest test, SpaceShipTwo did not fire its rocket engine to climb to space. Until now, SpaceShipTwo has flown attached to the wing of its special jet-powered mothership dubbed WhiteKnightTwo. Sunday was the first time the spaceship flew on its own.

Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, or VSS Enterprise being released from the mothership​

"It’s a very big deal," Virgin president Sir Richard Branson told The Associated Press. "There are a number of big deals on the way to getting commercial space travel becoming a reality." "This was a very big step. We now know that the spaceship glides. We know it can be dropped safely from the mothership and we know it can land safely. That’s three big ticks."

SpaceShipTwo will make a series of additional glide flights before rocketing to space. "The next big step will be the rocket tests actually on the spacecraft itself," Branson said. "We’ve obviously have done thousands of rocket tests on the ground, the next big test is in the air. We’ll be doing gentle rocket tests in the air, ultimately culminating into taking the spaceship into space."

SpaceShipTwo, built by famed aircraft designer Burt Rutan, is based on a prototype that won a $10 million (RM31 million) prize in 2004 for being the first manned private rocket to reach space. Tickets to ride aboard SpaceShipTwo cost $200,000. Some 370 customers have plunked down deposits totaling $50 million (RM155.3 million) , according to Virgin Galactic.

Commercial flights will fly out of New Mexico where a spaceport is under construction. Officials from Virgin Galactic and other dignitaries will gather at the spaceport Oct. 22 for an event commemorating the finished runway. The event will also feature a flyover by SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo.