Latest Scaled Composites Stories
Event marks first catapult launch of an unmanned aircraft from a ship NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md., May 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) and the U.S. Navy today launched a new chapter in the history of unmanned systems - carrier-capable unmanned aircraft - by successfully catapulting the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator from the deck of the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77). (Logo:...
Shore-based test adds momentum, confidence for upcoming carrier trials. NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md., May 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) and the U.S. Navy have conducted the first fly-in arrested landing of the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121024/LA98563LOGO) Photos accompanying this release are available at...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Virgin Galactic announced that SpaceShipTwo achieved a spectacular "Cold Flow" flight over the Mojave Desert today. The company was working on preparing the craft for its first powered flight, and it said its test objectives during this flight were successfully met. During the test, Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo carrier plane took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port, carrying the SpaceShipTwo underneath. It rose to an altitude...
FARNBOROUGH, United Kingdom, July 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today during the Farnborough International Air Show 2012, Virgin Galactic, the world's first commercial spaceline, announced "LauncherOne," a new air-launched rocket specifically designed to deliver small satellites into orbit. With substantial funding already raised from Virgin Galactic's partner aabar Investments PJS, and with commercial flights of this new orbital launch vehicle expected to begin by 2016, Virgin Galactic...
MOJAVE, Calif., May 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin Galactic, the world's first commercial spaceline, announced today that its vehicle developer, Scaled Composites (Scaled), has been granted an experimental launch permit from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for its suborbital spacecraft, SpaceshipTwo, and the carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo. "This important milestone enables our team to progress to the rocket-powered phase of test flight, bringing us a major step closer...
Richard Branson the famed owner of Virgin Galactic announced the 500th ticket for a Virgin Galactic flight, reports Ann Oldenburg for USA Today. Branson said, “Our 500th future astronaut customer has just signed up! Even better news is that number 500 is Ashton Kutcher. I gave Ashton a quick call to congratulate and welcome him. He is as thrilled as we are at the prospect of being among the first to cross the final frontier (and back!) with us and to experience the magic of space for...
Virgin Galactic, an arm of Richard Branson’s British conglomerate Virgin Group, is planning to test fly its first spacecraft beyond the Earth’s atmosphere this year, with commercial passenger service to follow within two years, company officials reported Monday. The commercial space venture is also looking to form a partnership with Abu Dhabi as the emirate builds itself a global aerospace hub. Virgin Galactic, 37.8 percent-owned by the Abu Dhabi government’s Aabar Investments...
Billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and renowned aerospace engineer Burt Rutan unveiled a plan on Tuesday to build the world’s largest plane to launch cargo and astronauts into space. Allen said on Tuesday that the new venture, dubbed Stratolaunch, would utilize a seldom-used concept: an aircraft that can take off the traditional way, and then, once it reaches an altitude of 30,000 feet, launch a rocket into orbit. The spaceship would carry satellites, supplies, and,...
SEATTLE, Dec. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Entrepreneur and philanthropist Paul G. Allen announced today that he and aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan have reunited to develop the next generation of space travel. Allen and Rutan, whose SpaceShipOne was the first privately-funded, manned rocket ship to fly beyond earth's atmosphere, are developing a revolutionary approach to space transportation: an air-launch system to provide orbital access to space with greater...
MOJAVE, Calif., Oct. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Just over fifty years ago, an historic competition for the first pilots to fly into space yielded the Mercury Seven astronauts. Today, from an intense selection process with more than 500 applicants including some of the best pilots in the world, Virgin Galactic has selected former USAF test pilot Keith Colmer as the first astronaut pilot to join the commercial spaceline's flight team. Colmer will join Chief Pilot David Mackay to begin flight...
