Branson’s RAF base space trips are Virgin on Reality
Covers come off Branson’s rocket carrier
Published:
THE possibility of passengers being launched into space from the North-east was due to take a step nearer to reality today.
The world’s largest carbon fibre aeroplane WhiteKnightTwo was due to be unveiled in the Mojave desert in the United States.
Its purpose will be to airlift Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, the world’s first commercial space rocket, to 50,000 feet before it blasts off into orbit.
In 2006, RAF Lossiemouth and the former air base at Machrihanish in Argyll were cited as possible sites for Virgin Galactic space flights.
The Moray base has been tippedas the front runner.
Will Whitehorn, the Scottish-born president of Virgin Atlantic, said there was a possibility the Virgin Galactic flights could take off from Lossiemouth for a few weeks during the summer, weather permitting.
Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, actress Victoria Principal and Virgin Galactic’s founding astronauts were due to be among the guests when Sir Richard Branson, head of the Virgin Group, rolls out WhiteKnightTwo onto the Mojave air strip for the first time. The craft looks like a catamaran with its twin-hulls.
When completed, SpaceShipTwo will be tucked underneath it for take off.
Then at 50,000ft, the spacecraft will be air launched, and within eight seconds it will become supersonic. Reaching speeds of Mach Four it will travel out 100km, to a region officially classed as space, before gliding back to Earth and landing like a conventional plane.
During a fact-finding visit to RAF Lossie mouth in August 2006, Mr Whitehorn met with senior officers to discuss the feasibility of the project.
At the time, he indicated that the two Scottish sites were the only two realistic options in the UK after other areas were found to have too much air traffic.
The first space trips will set off from a purpose-built spaceport in New Mexico. Flights will cost about £100,000 a head and trips are expected to last more than two hours, with five minutes of weightlessness.
To date, SpaceShipTwo, which will carry six passengers and two crew members, is 75% complete.
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