Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Powered Flights Expected To Begin in 2012

摘要

Suborbital space tourism venture Virgin Galactic hopes to begin powered test flights of its SpaceShipTwo rocket vehicle next year, representing a delay from previously disclosed plans to begin those tests in 2011, company officials said. George Whitesides, Virgin Galactic's chief executive, said the tests could begin during the first half of die year. "I think we need to see how things go over the next few months before we determine which quarter," he said via email. Meanwhile, Scott Ostrem, chief engineer at the Spaceship Company, prime contractor on SpaceShipTwo and its WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft, briefly addressed a problem that occurred during a Sept. 16 glide test of the suborbital rocket. The problem followed a clean release of SpaceShipTwo by its carrier aircraft.