First Flight Tests Pushed To 2016, Virgin Galactic CEO Says

The second version of SpaceShipTwo is nearing completion in a hangar in Mojave, CA, but it will not fly before next year.

That was the assessment of Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides, speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) last week in Las Cruces, NM.

According to a report appearing on www.americaspace.com, Whitesides said the company is maintaining three shifts to finish the vehicle. Currently, work is focusing on integrating plumbing, electrical, pneumatic, and other systems, Whitesides said. "The trick with all these programs is to find the right balance of moving quickly and building it right and safely," he said.

Whitesides said that after the major "weight on wheels" milestone was reached in May, the aircraft has since been mated to WhiteKnightTwo. Later this year, the oxidizer tank will be installed in the fuselage. Also still to be incorporated are new avionics and pilot seats.

The flight test regimen will include captive carry tests, unpowered glide tests, and finally powered flight tests. The company says it hopes to begin those tests next year, but analysts see that timeline as ambitious given that ground testing will not begin until sometime in 2016. They also point to Virgin Galactic's history of missing self-imposed deadlines.

This spacecraft, however, is not a clean-sheet design. Virgin Galactic may have a chance of flying next year because the concept has already been proven, analysts say.

(File image provided by Virgin Galactic)

FMI: www.virgingalactic.com