Edmund Ross

Virgin Galactic is… A revolutionary new company with ambitions to make public space flight common, and affordable. The company is owned and established by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group Ltd.

SpaceShipOne and White Night Carrier Aircraft during test flight October 4th, 2004

Technology that makes affordable space flight possible: Newly developed Light weight materials that are ideal for the extreme journey from Earth to the very edge of space and back. Newly developed Light weight materials that are ideal for the extreme journey from Earth to the very edge of space and back. The ability of the Space craft to “Feather” its wings to increase stability and control of the vehicle during reentry. The ability of the Space craft to “Feather” its wings to increase stability and control of the vehicle during reentry. The energy saving technique of mid-air rocket launch. The energy saving technique of mid-air rocket launch.

The Testing Program A company named Scaled Composites, located in La Jolla California, was given the job of developing the first prototype space craft, SpaceShipOne, and carrier aircraft, White Night.

SpaceShipOne Prototype compared to SpaceShipTwo, the highly anticipated first commercial space craft

SpaceShipOne Mission SpaceShipOne has a journey of about 50 miles near vertical at Mach 3.06 with a 6 minute sub-orbital weightless flight, before gently gliding back down to Earth

Achievements of the Program Won the Ansari X Prize on October 4, 2004 (by reaching 100 kilometers in altitude twice in a two-week period with the equivalent of three people on board). The project was rewarded 10 million dollars for their success. Won the Ansari X Prize on October 4, 2004 (by reaching 100 kilometers in altitude twice in a two-week period with the equivalent of three people on board). The project was rewarded 10 million dollars for their success. First privately funded human space flight First privately funded human space flight First privately funded reusable space craft First privately funded reusable space craft First privately funded aircraft to exceed Mach 2 and Mach 3 First privately funded aircraft to exceed Mach 2 and Mach 3

The Future of Space Travel After rigorous testing with the SpaceShipOne project, the SpaceShipTwo craft is expected to be even safer then its predecessor. SpaceShipTwo will be the first non-government space craft to take ordinary citizens into sub- orbit

Price to become an Astronaut To reserve your one, out of six, seat on the SpaceShipTwo during the first year of operations in 2009 will cost $200,000. However, the first year and beyond has already been sold out. Never the less, you can still attempt to book a flight at Virgin Galactic’s main website: $

How high will you be? Altitude (in feet) Aircraft or Point of interest 360,000SpaceShipTwo 328,000SpaceShipOne 180,000 Space Entry 100,000 Highest manned balloon flight 50,000 Commercial Airliners 29,029 Mt. Everest

Spaceports The original place that the flights will be departing from will be the Mojave Spaceport, located in Mojave California. However, Virgin Galactic will establish their headquarters at “Spaceport America” located in New Mexico for all future flights.

References To research this topic I used the following sources: abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/space/lectures/lec21.html _2589_db039.htm _2589_db039.htm