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WHITE KNIGHT TWO, shown in an artist’s conception showing it carrying SpaceShipTwo, will be unveiled to the world Monday morning at Mojave Airport/Spaceport. It’s the biggest aircraft ever designed and built at the airport. VIRGIN GALACTIC GRAPHIC |
World’s eyes on Mojave for White Knight rollout
Invitation-only event
QUOTE: “It is our hope that this industry will find a permanent home
in Mojave.”—EKAD General Manager Stuart Witt
BY BILL DEAVER
MOJAVE —The eyes of the aerospace world will be on Mojave Monday as
Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites roll-out White Knight Two at an invitation-only
event at the Mojave Airport/Spaceport.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and other dignitaries have
been invited to attend the event, along with people that have paid $20,000
to visit space aboard SpaceShipTwo.
The largest aircraft ever designed and built at the Mojave Airport/Spaceport,
the big plane is designed to lift SpaceShipTwo to launch altitude to take
a new generation of astronauts into space. It has been under construction
at Scaled’s Mojave facilities.
Virgin Galactic describes the plane, which is larger than a Boeing
757, as an “environmentally benign, space launch system based on the X-Prize
winning technology of SpaceShipOne, which successfully flew into space
for the third time in October 2004 and won the $10m Ansari X-Prize.”
It is the world's largest all-carbon-composite aircraft and has a unique
high-altitude lift capacity, capable of launching SpaceShipTwo and its
eight astronauts into sub-orbital space flight. The WK2 mothership
is powered by four Pratt and Whitney PW308A engines which are amongst the
most powerful, economic and efficient engines available.
Impact on Mojave
East Kern Airport District General Manager Stuart Witt said the roll-out
“is the result of the genius of (former EKAD general manager) Dan Sabovich
and inventors like Burt Rutan.”
“We have developed a place where bright people can nurture their dreams
and interact with others who have similar goals and objectives. Because
of this it will soon be possible for many humans to purchase a ticket to
space.”
“We fully expect sub-orbital operations from Mojave as this technology
moves to flight test and then to production,” Witt added. “It is our hope
that this industry will find a permanent home in Mojave.”
Lifting other payloads
White Knight Two has also been designed to be capable of lifting other
payloads and launching them into space. Both Scaled Composites and
Virgin Galactic believe the system has sufficient lifting capability to
launch unmanned vehicles designed to carry small satellites and other scientific
payload into low earth orbit. While the first priority for Virgin
Galactic is developing the market for human spaceflight, the company is
already assessing the potential for unmanned launch capability. (WhiteKnightOne
has been used for lifting other payloads).
SpaceShipTwo, which it will launch, will be three times larger than
SpaceShipOne with an interior approximately the size of a Gulf Stream 4
Corporate Jet.
While the two vehicles comprising the space launch system have been
under construction, Virgin Galactic's cadre of future astronauts has continued
to grow strongly to well in excess of 200 individuals with around 85,000
registrations of interest to fly. The deposit base now exceeds $30
million representing more than $45 million of future income to the fledgling
spaceline.
New Mexico officials to attend
QUOTE: “The community needs to know we tried.”—EKAD General Manager
Stu Witt
BY BILL DEAVER
MOJAVE — Continuing a policy of ignoring one of California’s most important
industries, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has turned-down an
invitation to attend the roll-out of Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo launch
aircraft at Mojave Airport/Spaceport Monday morning.
East Kern Airport District General Manager Stuart Witt said he received
a “form letter” from a member of the Governor’s staff declining the invitation.
“The community needs to know we tried” to once again get Schwarzenegger
to pay attention to the booming space tourism industry being developed
here.
East Kern officials working to attract a new state university to the
area, and to expand local educational opportunities — especially in career-technical
education— which Schwarzenegger claims to support, had asked to spend 15
minutes briefing the governor on their plans.
New Mexico attending
While Schwarzenegger is too busy to travel 300 miles to Mojave for
the event, a delegation of New Mexico officials will drive considerably
further to attend the event.
“I am going to be in the unfortunate position of introducing the New
Mexico delegation at the rollout,” Witt said. While Schwarzenegger has
ignored the local space industry, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has
been leading successful efforts for several years to attract Mojave space
businesses to his state.
Witt said his counterpart in New Mexico has recruited two of the three
Mojave-based space businesses he has actively went after. Representatives
from New Mexico were up and down the Mojave Airport/Spaceport tarmac during
the Ansari X-Prize events in 2004 which Schwarzenegger also snubbed.
Witt said Virgin Galactic will launch SpaceShipTwo on regular flights
from a new spaceport under construction in a remote part of New Mexico.
Richardson has pumped millions of state dollars into the venture. The Rocket
Racing League has also chosen the New Mexico venue for its initial races,
Witt noted.
“They built two brand-new hangars,” at the Las Cruces, New Mexico site,
Witt said.
Electric car
While Schwarzenegger and his staff have ridiculed incentives for California
companies as a “race to the bottom,” he is proposing financial incentives
to a small Northern California company that builds electric automobiles.
The need for these incentives came to light when Schwarzenegger, who
has ordered one of the cars, learned that Tesla Motors is being actively
recruited by officials in New Mexico.
Legislation to provide these same incentives to the space industry
was dumped by the Democrat-dominated state senate.
