Aircraft Christened "VMS Eve" by Sir Richard Branson's Mother, Eve Branson

by ANN Correspondent Larry Stencel

At 8:35AM PST Monday at Mojave, CA the Virgin Galactic White Knight Two aircraft was officially unveiled to the public and media for the first time. Sir Richard Branson's Mother, Eve, was on hand to christen the ship, "Eve."

Following the media rollout, the launch vehicle was unveiled a second time to its ultimate customer base of 270 paid customers plus other interested end users. More than 100 future Virgin Galactic astronauts were flown into Mojave on a Virgin chartered A320 Airbus to be on-hand for the media event.

Within the hour of unveiling, Will Whitehorn, President of Virgin Galactic, and Bob Morgan, Chief Engineer, granted a live question and answer interview session to EAA Oshkosh media assembled at the EAA Air Museum Vette Auditorium. Starting with a movie made specially for the EAA on Sunday, July 27, the aircraft and a smiling Sir Richard Branson and Burt Rutan were shown on the Mojave flight line inspecting the airplane. During the media question and answer session which followed today's unveiling, it quickly became evident this will be a most amazing aircraft which will open new frontiers in aviation as it we currently know it.

When fully tested and certified by the FAA for flight, the White Knight Two will ultimately carry Space Ship Two aloft to ~50,000 feet -- a mission-optimized altitude identical to that used by Space Ship One -- where it will drop Space Ship Two and up to six fare-paying passengers and two crew for flights into suborbital altitudes. It's maximum speed will be 2,600MPG or Mach 3.5 with an apogee altitude of 70 miles. It was also revealed that Space Ship Two could carry a single person into low orbital flight of 110KM altitude. Both White Knight Two and Space Ship Two have payload factors three times greater than that of their predecessors.  

Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn stated that Space Ship Two will contain "the longest single carbon composite aviation component ever manufactured." Powered by four Pratt and Whitney PW308A engines mounted in pairs outboard of two widely spaced fuselages with T-tails -- both ultimately capable of carrying passengers and crew -- the booms are connected by a 140 foot wing. The wing bows up in the middle between the fuselages to allow for taxiing ground clearance for the Space Ship Two when mounted.

While the now 80% complete White Knight Two is not yet ready for flight test, ground testing has begun. As is the custom at Scaled Composites, the first flight date will not be announced in advance but it is expected to occur later in 2008. The subsequent flight test development program for White Knights Two is expected to take as much as two years. The cockpit crew stations of the White Knight Two will mirror that of Space Ship Two such that crew familiarization and other tasks necessary for flight testing of Space Ship Two can be done with it's carrier aircraft first. Flight controls are also identical.

Space Ship Two will be unveiled some time in 2009 and first captive flight will also occur in 2009.

White Knight Two's thrust to weight ratio at minimum fuel levels is about one to one. With full fuel, it's ferry range could be as much as 2,500NM. The certification program for White Knight Two will include an "open architecture" format for other uses such as carrying spare airline engines, UAVs, water bombing (using a captive carry tank), as well as other aerospace related applications. It will ultimately be possible for both fuselage cabins to be occupied such that crew training could occur during Space Ship Two launches. Friends or family members of Virgin Galactic astronauts could also witness the launch from White Knight Two in flight. Initially, however, the left hand boom will be unoccupied.

It is also envisioned that White Knight Two will be operated from other locations within the US and Europe. Sweden, the United Kingdom and Spain are currently being considered.

Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites have formed a new Company, "The Space Ship Company," (TSC) to ultimately develop and market the White Knight Two design for other purposes. The first five Space Ship Two's and the first two White Knight Two's will be owned by Virgin Galactic as operator and manufacturer.

When asked when White Knight Two could be expected at AirVenture, Will Whitehorn stated that it was entirely within the realm of possibility that it could be in 2009.

Branson, Burt Rutan and Will Whitehorn will travel to Oshkosh early Tuesday, and will be on-hand to talk about White Knight Two at the Honda Pavilion at 1PM. At 8:50PM in the Theater In The Woods, Burt Rutan and Will Whitehorn will also deliver an evening program. 

FMI: www.airventure.org, www.virgingalactic.com