Scaled Composites White Knight Two
Encyclopedia
The Scaled Composites Model 348 White Knight Two (WK2) is a jet-powered cargo aircraft
which will be used to launch the SpaceShipTwo
spacecraft
. It is being developed by Scaled Composites
as the first stage of Tier 1b
, a two-stage to suborbital-space manned launch system. WK2 is based on the successful mothership to SpaceShipOne, White Knight, which itself is based on Proteus
.
With an "open architecture" design and explicit plans for multi-purpose use, the aircraft could also operate as a zero-g
aircraft for passenger training or microgravity science flights, handle missions in high-altitude testing more generally, or be used to launch payloads other than SpaceShipTwo. A study to look at using the aircraft as a forest fire water bomber has also been mentioned, one that would utilize a large carbon composite water tank that could be quickly replenished to make repeat runs over fires.
Virgin Galactic has ordered two White Knight Twos. Together WK2 and SS2 form the basis for Virgin Galactic
's fleet of suborbital spaceplanes.
, The Spaceship Company
has announced that it plans to build at least three additional WhiteKnightTwo aircraft and an additional five SpaceShipTwo rocket planes. These are the aircraft to be built after the initial prototypes of each craft are built by Scaled Composites
.
The first White Knight Two is named VMS Eve
after Richard Branson
's mother; it was officially unveiled on July 28, 2008, and flew for the first time on December 21, 2008. The second is expected to be named VMS Spirit of Steve Fossett after Branson's close friend Steve Fossett
, who died in an aircraft accident in 2007.
_cr8.jpg)
White Knight Two is roughly three times larger than White Knight, in order to perform a captive flight with the larger SpaceShipTwo spacecraft. The WK2 is similar in wingspan
to a Boeing B-29 Superfortress. White Knight Two is a very modern aircraft, as even the flight control cables are constructed of carbon fiber, using a new patented design.
WK2 will provide preview flights offering several seconds of weightlessness
, before the suborbital event. It is intended to have a service ceiling
of about 60,000 ft (18 km), offering a dark blue sky to passengers. This will allow tourists to practice before the real flight.
White Knight Two consists of a twin boom
with two jet engine
s per hull. One hull is an exact replica of that of SpaceShipTwo (to allow tourist training), and the other will carry 'cut-rate' day-trippers into the stratosphere.
The design is quite different from the White Knight, both in size, use of tail, engine configuration and placement of cockpit(s). The White Knight uses two T-tail
s, but the White Knight Two uses two cruciform tail
s. Engine configuration is also very different. White Knight Two has four engines hung underneath the wings on pylons while White Knight's pair of engines are on either side of its single fuselage.
_cr8.jpg)
Virgin Galactic contracted aerospace designer Burt Rutan to build the mothership and spacecraft.
The launch customer of White Knight Two is Virgin Galactic
, which will have the first two units, and exclusive rights to the craft for the first few years.
An extensive flight test program of VMS Eve, with nearly twenty flights between December 2008 and August 2009, was undertaken to validate the design and gradually expand the aircraft operating envelope
. The flight tests were complete by September 2009, and testing with SpaceShipTwo began in early 2010.
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
which will be used to launch the SpaceShipTwo
Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo
The Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo is a suborbital, air-launched spaceplane, designed for space tourism. It is under development by The Spaceship Company, a California-based joint venture between Scaled Composites and the Virgin Group, as part of the Tier 1b program.SpaceShipTwo is...
spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
. It is being developed by Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites is an aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman that is located at the Mojave Spaceport, Mojave, California, United States...
as the first stage of Tier 1b
Tier 1b
Tier 1b is Burt Rutan's nickname for the suborbital tourist human spaceflight platform in development at Scaled Composites with Mojave Aerospace Ventures by The Spaceship Company for Virgin Galactic...
, a two-stage to suborbital-space manned launch system. WK2 is based on the successful mothership to SpaceShipOne, White Knight, which itself is based on Proteus
Scaled Composites Proteus
The Scaled Composites Model 281 Proteus is a tandem-wing high-endurance aircraft designed by Burt Rutan to investigate the use of aircraft as high altitude telecommunications relays. The Proteus is actually a multi-mission vehicle, able to carry various payloads on a ventral pylon...
.
With an "open architecture" design and explicit plans for multi-purpose use, the aircraft could also operate as a zero-g
Weightlessness
Weightlessness is the condition that exists for an object or person when they experience little or no acceleration except the acceleration that defines their inertial trajectory, or the trajectory of pure free-fall...
aircraft for passenger training or microgravity science flights, handle missions in high-altitude testing more generally, or be used to launch payloads other than SpaceShipTwo. A study to look at using the aircraft as a forest fire water bomber has also been mentioned, one that would utilize a large carbon composite water tank that could be quickly replenished to make repeat runs over fires.
Virgin Galactic has ordered two White Knight Twos. Together WK2 and SS2 form the basis for Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is a company within Richard Branson's Virgin Group which plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public, along with suborbital space science missions and orbital launches of small satellites...
's fleet of suborbital spaceplanes.
, The Spaceship Company
The Spaceship Company
The Spaceship Company is a spacecraft manufacturing company formed by Burt Rutan and Richard Branson in mid-2005, jointly owned by Virgin Group and Scaled Composites, which will own the technology created by Scaled for Virgin Galactic's Virgin SpaceShip program...
has announced that it plans to build at least three additional WhiteKnightTwo aircraft and an additional five SpaceShipTwo rocket planes. These are the aircraft to be built after the initial prototypes of each craft are built by Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites is an aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman that is located at the Mojave Spaceport, Mojave, California, United States...
.
The first White Knight Two is named VMS Eve
VMS Eve
VMS Eve is a carrier mothership for Virgin Galactic and launch platform for Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo-based Virgin SpaceShips....
after Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
's mother; it was officially unveiled on July 28, 2008, and flew for the first time on December 21, 2008. The second is expected to be named VMS Spirit of Steve Fossett after Branson's close friend Steve Fossett
Steve Fossett
James Stephen Fossett was an American commodities trader, businessman, and adventurer. Fossett is the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon...
, who died in an aircraft accident in 2007.
Design
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
to a Boeing B-29 Superfortress. White Knight Two is a very modern aircraft, as even the flight control cables are constructed of carbon fiber, using a new patented design.
WK2 will provide preview flights offering several seconds of weightlessness
Weightlessness
Weightlessness is the condition that exists for an object or person when they experience little or no acceleration except the acceleration that defines their inertial trajectory, or the trajectory of pure free-fall...
, before the suborbital event. It is intended to have a service ceiling
Service ceiling
With respect to aircraft, a ceiling is the maximum density altitude an aircraft can reach under a set of conditions.The word ceiling can also refer to the height of the lowest obscuring cloud layer above the ground.-Service ceiling:...
of about 60,000 ft (18 km), offering a dark blue sky to passengers. This will allow tourists to practice before the real flight.
White Knight Two consists of a twin boom
Twin boom
Twin-boom aircraft have their tailplanes and vertical stabilizers mounted on the tail of either two fuselages or on two booms fixed to either both sides of the single fuselage, the wings or the engine nacelles.The reason for this design choice may be:...
with two jet engine
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
s per hull. One hull is an exact replica of that of SpaceShipTwo (to allow tourist training), and the other will carry 'cut-rate' day-trippers into the stratosphere.
The design is quite different from the White Knight, both in size, use of tail, engine configuration and placement of cockpit(s). The White Knight uses two T-tail
T-tail
thumb|right|Grob motor gliderA T-tail is an aircraft tail stabilizer configuration in which the horizontal surfaces are mounted to the top of the vertical stabilizer. Traditionally, the horizontal control surfaces are mounted to the fuselage at the base of the vertical stabilizer...
s, but the White Knight Two uses two cruciform tail
Cruciform tail
The cruciform tail is an aircraft empennage configuration which, when viewed from the aircraft's front or rear, looks much like a cross. The usual arrangement is to have the horizontal stabilizer intersect the vertical tail somewhere near the middle, and above the top of the fuselage.Often this...
s. Engine configuration is also very different. White Knight Two has four engines hung underneath the wings on pylons while White Knight's pair of engines are on either side of its single fuselage.
Timeline of commercial introduction
- On January 23, 2008 the White Knight Two design was revealed.
- On July 28, 2008 the completion and rollout of the first aircraft, EveVMS EveVMS Eve is a carrier mothership for Virgin Galactic and launch platform for Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo-based Virgin SpaceShips....
, (Tail NumberAircraft registrationAn aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
: N348MS) occurred at Scaled's Mojave headquarters. Branson predicted that the maiden space voyage would take place in 18 months: "It represents... the chance for our ever-growing group of future astronauts and other scientists to see our world in a completely new light." - On March 22, 2010 the VSS EnterpriseVSS EnterpriseThe VSS Enterprise is the first of five commercial suborbital spacecraft being constructed for Virgin Galactic by Scaled Composites....
completed its captive maiden voyage of 2 hours and 54 minutes, ascending to an altitude of 45,000 feet (13716 meters).
The launch customer of White Knight Two is Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is a company within Richard Branson's Virgin Group which plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public, along with suborbital space science missions and orbital launches of small satellites...
, which will have the first two units, and exclusive rights to the craft for the first few years.
Flight test program
The initial flight tests were planned to begin in early September 2008, but they were delayed.An extensive flight test program of VMS Eve, with nearly twenty flights between December 2008 and August 2009, was undertaken to validate the design and gradually expand the aircraft operating envelope
Flight envelope
In aerodynamics, the flight envelope or performance envelope of an aircraft refers to the capabilities of a design in terms of airspeed and load factor or altitude. The term is somewhat loosely applied, and can also refer to other measurements such as maneuverability...
. The flight tests were complete by September 2009, and testing with SpaceShipTwo began in early 2010.