Branson Unveils First Private Space Travel Carrier Craft

Filed in archive Travel News on August 3, 2008

Richard Branson, the owner of Virgin Atlantic, debuted the craft carrier that he hopes will make space travel a possibility within the next decade. The aircraft is called the WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) and dubbed "Eve." WK2 will ferry SpaceShipTwo and thousands of private astronauts, science packages and payloads during the first phase of the space experience.

It is a crowning achievement in Branson's quest to launch the world's first private space tour. WK2 is the world's largest all carbon composite aircraft and many of its parts have been built using composite materials for the first time. The wing spar measures 140ft and is the longest single composite aviation part ever manufactured.

Richard Branson has unveiled the craft that he hopes will open bring space tourism to the masses. The WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier will ferry SpaceShipTwo and thousands of private astronauts, science packages and payload on the first stage of the Virgin Galactic sub-orbital space experience.

Commenting on the rollout, Burt Rutan, Founder of Scaled Composites said:

"WhiteKnightTwo represents the apogee of the application of carbon composites to aerospace and all of us at Scaled are tremendously excited at the capabilities of the Mothership for SpaceShipTwo. I believe the vehicle will be developed and sold for a variety of launch applications beyond the initial requirements of our launch customer, Virgin Galactic. We have set up a new business jointly with Virgin, The Spaceship Company (TSC), to develop these vehicles and we very much hope that its efficiency will herald a wake up call to the aerospace industry and the necessity of using new materials and technologies in the future. "

Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Galactic added:

"As usual, Burt and the Scaled team have created a beauty and this is a very proud day for us all. The rollout of WhiteKnightTwo takes the Virgin Galactic vision to the next level and continues to provide tangible evidence that this most ambitious of projects is not only for real but is making tremendous progress towards our goal of safe commercial operation.

Passengers will also get to experience five crucial minutes of weightlessness. Unfortunately, because of the practical issues surround zero gravity, that has effectively ruled out any chance of getting a snack on the flight.

www.virgin.com