Looking skyward, more than 800 guests marvelled at Virgin Galactic’s commercial space vehicles as they soared through the skies of southern New Mexico during the dedication ceremonies of Virgin Galactic’s new home at Spaceport America. The flight of WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo was the highlight of a spectacular ceremony which featured the dedication of the Sir Norman Foster-designed building and announcements of new scientific and educational customers for the world’s first commercial space line.
“Today is another history-making day for Virgin Galactic,” said Sir Richard Branson. “We are here with a group of incredible people who are helping us lead the way in creating one of the most important new industrial sectors of the 21st century. We’ve never wavered in our commitment to the monumental task of pioneering safe, affordable and clean access to space, or to demonstrate that we mean business at each step along the way.”
The Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space, a combined terminal and hangar facility, will support up to two WhiteKnightTwo and five SpaceShipTwo vehicles. In addition, The Gateway will house all of the company’s astronaut preparation and celebration facilities, a mission control centre, and a friends and family area. There is also space committed to public access via the planned New Mexico Spaceport Authority’s Visitor Experience.
The iconic 120,000sq ft building was designed by world-renowned United Kingdom-based Foster + Partners, along with URS Corporation and local New Mexico architects SMPC. The trio won an international competition in 2007 to build the first private spaceport in the world.
Built using local materials and regional construction techniques, the facility is sustainable with few additional energy requirements due to the use of a range of sustainable features including geothermal heating and cooling.
New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez participated in the dedication ceremony with U.S. Congressman Steve Pearce, representing New Mexico’s 2nd District. “New Mexico has a long tradition of pioneering innovation in aerospace and related technologies,” said Governor Martinez. “We already possess an impressive array of facilities and expertise in advanced technologies. Spaceport America and the opening of the Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space significantly deepen those capabilities and strengthen our global position as a powerhouse supporter of the space industry. Our partnership with Virgin Galactic is a perfect example of how government and private industry can work together to drive economic growth and science education.”
Virgin Galactic CEO and President George Whitesides said the company continues to make excellent and unequalled progress, under the motto ‘safety is our North Star.’ Whitesides remarked, “Flight testing by prime contractor Scaled Composites is progressing very well, with 30 SpaceShipTwo flights and 75 WhiteKnightTwo flights to date. We are also recruiting aggressively and assembling a highly talented and accomplished workforce focused on safe commercial operations led by Vice President of Operations Mike Moses, who will run our efforts at the spaceport.”
In addition, the company is taking steps to expand its mission beyond commercial space tourism. The company announced last week that it had been awarded a contract under NASA’s Flight Opportunity Program for research flights to a potential value of $4.5m. During the ceremony, it was announced that new flight reservations have been made by research and education institutions to support research initiatives and inspire students. Purdue University, Space Florida, the Challenger Centre for Space Science Education and Southwest Research Institute were recognised as the most recent participants in this new growth area for Virgin Galactic.
“For me, my children and our ever growing community of future astronauts, many of whom are with us today, standing in front of the Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space as it glimmers majestically under the New Mexican sun brings our space adventure so close we can almost taste it,” said Sir Richard.
Present for the dedication ceremony were over 150 Virgin Galactic customers from 21 countries who have already made deposits to fly to space. A total of over 450 future astronauts worldwide have signed on to join Virgin Galactic for a voyage into space.
NASA research missions on SpaceShipTwo
Another exciting piece of news in the run up to our New Mexico Spaceport event on was that NASA, following a submission of proposals, has selected Virgin Galactic under its Flight Opportunities Program to provide the Space Agency with up to three charter flights on SpaceShipTwo, with a contract with a value of up to $4.5m. This will provide opportunities for engineers, technologists, and scientific researchers to conduct cutting-edge experiments in space.
Virgin Galactic has confirmed an order from NASA for up to three charter flights on its privately-built spacecraft to provide opportunities for engineers, technologists, and scientific researchers to conduct cutting-edge experiments in suborbital space. The agreement calls for NASA to charter a full flight from Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline, and includes options for two additional charter flights. If all options are exercised, the contract value is $4.5m.
This arrangement dramatically increases the access researchers currently have to space. Each mission allows for up to 1300lbs of scientific experiments, which could enable up to 600 experimental payloads per flight. Virgin Galactic will provide a Flight Test Engineer on every flight to monitor and interact with experiments as necessary, a capability that has never before been available on suborbital vehicles. If requested, these experiments can be quickly accessed after landing, a feature critical to many types of experiments.
These research flights mark an important milestone for the firm. Although generally referred to as a space tourism company—Virgin Galactic has already collected more than $58m in deposits from 455 future tourist astronauts—providing access to space to researchers and their experiments is viewed by Virgin Galactic as both a future mission segment and a significant business opportunity.
“We are excited to be working with NASA to provide the research community with this opportunity to carry out experiments in space,” said George Whitesides, President and CEO of Virgin Galactic. “An enormous range of disciplines can benefit from access to space, but historically, such research opportunities have been rare and expensive. At Virgin Galactic, we are fully dedicated to revolutionizing access to space, both for tourist astronauts and, through programs like this, for researchers.”
NASA’s charter for these flights comes through the agency’s Flight Opportunities Program, managed by NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, CA. Through this program, NASA has already arranged the flight of a broad range of innovative scientific payloads designed by NASA labs, universities, and private companies across the United States. To date, none of the experiments flown via the Flight Opportunities program have crossed the boundary into space.
With the flights secured, NASA will be able to select from a variety of proposals currently being solicited from the research community, which has already expressed strong interest. The Flight Opportunities Program will be responsible for selecting the payloads to be flown.
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo is the only crewed suborbital vehicle in flight test today, and the only such vehicle based on a commercial spacecraft that has already sent humans into space, the X Prize-winning SpaceShipOne. Virgin Galactic offers a significantly larger cabin than any other company taking deposits today, allowing for unique technology demonstrations and research.
