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Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic spaceship ignites engine in flight | Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic spaceship ignites engine in flight |
(35 minutes later) | |
The spaceplane being developed by UK billionaire Sir Richard Branson has made its first powered flight. | The spaceplane being developed by UK billionaire Sir Richard Branson has made its first powered flight. |
The vehicle was dropped from a carrier aircraft high above California's Mojave Desert and ignited its rocket engine to go supersonic for a few seconds. | |
Sir Richard's intention is to use the spaceship to carry fare-paying passengers on short pleasure rides above the Earth's atmosphere. | Sir Richard's intention is to use the spaceship to carry fare-paying passengers on short pleasure rides above the Earth's atmosphere. |
His company Virgin Galactic has already taken hundreds of deposits. | His company Virgin Galactic has already taken hundreds of deposits. |
The rocket vehicle is known as SpaceShipTwo (SS2). | |
Although it has been in the air on more than 20 occasions, this was the first time its hybrid motor had been ignited. | Although it has been in the air on more than 20 occasions, this was the first time its hybrid motor had been ignited. |
It was only a short burn lasting about 16 seconds, but propelled SS2 beyond the sound barrier to a speed of Mach 1.2. Future outings should see progressively longer burn durations, enabling the plane eventually to reach sufficient velocity to climb more than 100km into the sky. | |
Monday's mission began at the Mojave Air and Space Port at just after 07:00 local time (14:00 GMT). Test pilots Mark Stucky and Mike Alsbury were reported to be at the controls of SS2. | |
It took off slung beneath the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, which does the job of lifting the rocket plane to its launch altitude - some 45,000ft (14km). | |
A little under an hour later, SpaceShipTwo was released, dropped a short distance to get clear of WhiteKnightTwo and then lit its engine, which burns a combination of a solid rubber compound and liquid nitrous oxide. | A little under an hour later, SpaceShipTwo was released, dropped a short distance to get clear of WhiteKnightTwo and then lit its engine, which burns a combination of a solid rubber compound and liquid nitrous oxide. |
Sir Richard said in a statement: "For the first time, we were able to prove the key components of the system, fully integrated and in flight. Today's supersonic success opens the way for a rapid expansion of the spaceship's powered flight envelope, with a very realistic goal of full space flight by the year's end." | |
After shutting down its motor, the vehicle then glided back to the Mojave runway, touching down just after 08:00 local time. | |
Sir Richard is reluctant these days to say precisely when SpaceShipTwo will enter commercial service. | Sir Richard is reluctant these days to say precisely when SpaceShipTwo will enter commercial service. |
The projections for a start date issued in the early days of the project in the mid-2000s have long since passed as engineers have grappled with the complexities of developing the world's first spaceliner. | The projections for a start date issued in the early days of the project in the mid-2000s have long since passed as engineers have grappled with the complexities of developing the world's first spaceliner. |
The delay appears not to have dissuaded prospective passengers, however. | |
More than 500 people, including celebrities such as physicist Stephen Hawking and former Dallas actress Victoria Principal, have put down a deposit for a ticket that will cost them about $200,000. | |
The initial service will be run out of a purpose built facility in the New Mexico desert known Spaceport America. | |
Sir Richard says he will take his family one of the first flights to demonstrate his faith in the vehicle's safety. | |
The rocket plane itself is a derivative of SpaceShipOne, which became the first private manned spacecraft to fly to the edge of space and back in 2004. | |
It was the brainchild of aviation pioneer Burt Rutan, whose Mojave company, Scaled Composities, then developed a passenger version for Sir Richard. | |
There are other companies hoping to offer sub-orbital flights in the near future. | |
Xcor Aerospace, which also has an operation in Mojave, is developing a smaller rocket plane called Lynx. This would carry one pilot and one ticketed passenger to 100km. | |
Neither it nor SS2 can achieve the speeds needed to go into orbit. | |
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos | Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos |