Virgin Galactic reached a new milestone on Friday when a recent test flight of the commercial space program's SpaceShipTwo (or SS2) reached a new record height. The program is the pet project of British businessman Richard Branson and is aimed at providing practical sub-orbit space travel for commercial purposes.
In the spacecraft's first test flight for the year, the SpaceShipTwo craft climbed to an altitude of 71,000 feet at a speed of Mach 1.4. This is the highest altitude the spacecraft has been able to reach to date and was accomplished during the ship's third test flight. Once the program is completed, Virgin Galactic will be open for business of taking small groups of people into space. For a handsome sum of $250,000, wealthy individuals will be able to enjoy an experience only previously available to astronauts.
The SpaceShipTwo is a reusable spacecraft prototype that currently serves as a test bed for civilian space aviation technology. The ship is powered by a hybrid rocket system that uses a rubber compound as well as nitrous oxide to propel the craft at supersonic speeds. The craft can also comfortably seat a pilot and 6 passengers and it should theoretically be able to reach an altitude of 60 miles at speeds of 2,500 miles per hour.
During the ship's third test flight, a number of cameras were also mounted to the craft to monitor performance during the flight. The SpaceShipTwo's mothership, the WhiteKnightTwo was also used to take footage of the flight for further study.
The test flight was conducted during daybreak on Friday. SpaceShipTwo and its mothership took off at the Mojave Air and Space Port near Los Angeles. Once the WhiteKnightTwo reached an altitude of about 46,000 feet, the SpaceShipTwo detached from its cradle to begin the test flight.
Once the test flights are completed and all the necessary adjustments have been made, Virgin Galactic hopes to offer the first commercial space flights this year. The company has already announced that 680 individuals have made reservations for the upcoming flights.
