Virgin unveils spaceship designs

Virgin unveils spaceship designs

news.bbc.co.uk

Virgin Galactic has contracted the innovative aerospace designer Burt Rutan to build its spaceliners. The carrier - White Knight Two (WK2) - is said to be very nearly complete and is expected to begin flight-testing later this year.
SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is about 60% complete, Virgin Galactic says.

Both vehicles are being constructed at Mr Rutan's Scaled Composites factory in California.

The rocket spaceliner will carry two pilot astronauts and six ticketed passengers.

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For $200,000 you can take a trip into space!
Sometime in the near future - this is a far cry from the Russian offer which costs about $20 million.

This kind of project excites me - surely if private companys start offering space flights, the various governments may pull their respective fingers out and start pumping some money into space projects rather than waste trillions on war.

How long before a holiday in space is available!
Exciting times.

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

I like how they've stuck with the overall spaceship one design. Perhaps it will become tradition.

Looking at how the vehicle works, I wonder how awkward landing the two hulled launching platform would be. The cockpit is pretty far from center, it must feel weird to a seasoned pilot to bank when he's not centered in the vehicle.