Spaceship Charter, SS2
Overview
| Model | SpaceShipTwo (SS2) |
| Seating | 6 Passengers |
| Crew | 2 (incl. pilot) |
| Operator | Virgin Galactic |
| Spaceport | Spaceport America, New Mexico |
GC Privé Services
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Virgin Galactic
Founded by Burt Rutan, Scaled developed SpaceShipOne, which in 2004 claimed the $10 million Ansari X Prize as the world’s first privately developed manned spacecraft. Virgin Galactic’s new vehicles, which will be manufactured by Virgin Galactic in Mojave, Calif., share much of the same basic design, but are being built to carry six customers, or the equivalent scientific research payload, on suborbital space flights. The vehicles will allow an out-of-the-seat, zero-gravity experience with astounding views of the planet from the black sky of space for non-professional astronauts and a unique microgravity platform for researchers.
The VSS Enterprise and VMS Eve test flight program is well under way, leading to Virgin Galactic commercial operations, which will be based at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
aabar Investments PJS
Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, aabar Investments PJS invests in various sectors including infrastructure, aviation, real estate, automotive, commodities, energy and financial services. IPIC acquired a stake in aabar in 2008 and has since progressively increased its stake to the current level of 95%.
Since IPIC’s initial investment, aabar has made numerous investments including stakes in Daimler AG, Falcon Private Bank Ltd., Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Limited, UniCredit S.p.A., Galactic Ventures LLC, XOJET, Inc., Glencore International plc and a portfolio of real estate projects.
Description
Each passenger gets the same seating position with two large windows: window size one side window and one overhead, so that, if you don’t want to float free in space, and you’d rather just remain in your seat, you still get a great chance to see the view. No more squabbling over who has the best seat.
The spaceship can be thought of as an air launched glider with a rocket motor and a couple of extra systems for spaceflight. Just like any conventional flying machine, it requires aerodynamic forces to provide its stability and control which, clearly, it only has whilst in the atmosphere. In space it follows a purely ballistic trajectory, but here it can use small thrusters known as the reaction control system (RCS) which allow the pilots to maneuver the vehicle in space and provide a changing view for the passenger astronauts.
The spaceship is powered by a hybrid rocket motor. This type of system is not a new idea but offers important safety and environmental advantages over liquid or solid systems that are more commonly used on manned space vehicles. In particular, it means that the pilots will be able to shut down the SpaceShipTwo rocket motor at any time during its operation and glide safely back to the runway.
For more details of the SpaceShipTwo rocket motor please see the section on Safety. Perhaps the most radical feature employed by SpaceshipOne and now SpaceShipTwo is the unique way it returns into the dense atmosphere from the vacuum of space. Burt Rutan designed the unique feathering system which does away with the need for sophisticated computer driven flight control systems or the need to rely on the pilots. Instead it uses aerodynamic design and the laws of physics for a carefree and heat free re-entry followed by a glide runway landing. For more details on SpaceShipTwo’s feathered re-entry system see the section on Safety.
Specification
| Manufacturer | Scaled Composites |
| Model | SpaceShipTwo (SS2) |
| Length | 60.0 ft |
| Wingspan | 27.0 ft |
| Height | 18.0 ft |
| Seating | 6 Passengers |
| Crew | 3 (incl. 2 pilots) |
| Propulsion | 4 x XR-5K18 Liquid Fueled re-ignitable rocket engines |
| Max thrust | 11,600 lbs |
| Canopy surface | 45.2 ft2 |
| Operator | Virgin Galactic |
| Spaceport | Spaceport America, New Mexico |
