News: Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic passenger spacecraft broke the sound barrier during its first rocket-powered flight in California yesterday.

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo was brought to an altitude of 14,000 metres before being released by its carrier craft over the Mojave Desert.

The pilots then rotated the spacecraft to a vertical position and ignited its rocket, which propelled it beyond the speed of sound and took it to almost 17,000 metres above ground.

"The first powered flight of Virgin Spaceship Enterprise was without any doubt our single most important flight test to date," said Branson, the British entrepreneur who founded Virgin Galactic to be the world's first commercial space travel company.

"Today’s supersonic success opens the way for a rapid expansion of the spaceship's powered flight envelope, with a very realistic goal of full space flight by the year’s end," he added.

SpaceShipTwo is designed to carry two pilots and six passengers on two-and-a-half-hour sub-orbital flights and was unveiled in 2009, a year after its carrier craft WhiteKnightTwo was unveiled – see all news about Virgin Galactic.

The Virgin Galactic terminal in New Mexico was designed by Foster + Partners, the British firm that recently announced proposals to 3D-printing buildings on the moon - see all news and stories about space.

Top image is by Marscientific.com and Clay Center Observatory.

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completes first rocket-powered flight appeared first on Dezeen.

Foster + Partners have completed the world’s first space terminal for tourists in New Mexico.

Flying displays by Virgin Galactic space vehicles WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo marked the opening of Spaceport America.

The low-rise building is dug into the landscape beside the El Camino Real road and is entered through a cleft between the two wings.

Full-height glazing wraps around the end of the building, facing onto the runway beyond.

The spaceport hangar is located in the centre of the building, with administrative areas to the west and flight training and preparation areas to the east.

The project was designed in collaboration with New Mexico architects SMPC and project manager URS Corporation.

Operators Virgin Galactic are currently running a test flight programme.

Dezeen originally published visuals of the spaceport back in 2007 - see our earlier story here and see more stories about Virgin Galactic here. For more about Foster + Partners, including their circular campus proposals for Apple, click here.

Photography is by Nigel Young, apart from where otherwise stated.

Here's some more information from Foster + Partners:

Dedication ceremony for the Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space

A dedication ceremony was held at Spaceport America in New Mexico – the world’s first commercial space terminal. More than 800 guests attended the event, which included flying displays of Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo vehicles.

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The Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space, a combined terminal and hangar facility, will support up to two WhiteKnightTwo and five SpaceShipTwo vehicles. The 120,000 square-foot building has been designed by Foster + Partners, working with URS Corporation and New Mexico architects SMPC.

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The Gateway will also house all astronaut preparation and celebration facilities, a mission control centre and a friends and family area.

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Entrance is via a deep channel cut into the landscape and its retaining walls form an exhibition space that documents a history of space exploration alongside the story of the region. With minimal embodied carbon and few additional energy requirements, the scheme has been designed to achieve LEED Gold accreditation.

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The low-lying form is dug into the landscape to exploit the thermal mass, which buffers the building from the extremes of the New Mexico climate as well as catching the westerly winds for ventilation; and maximum use is made of daylight via skylights.

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Built using local materials and construction techniques, it aims to be both sustainable and sensitive to its surroundings.

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Sir Richard Branson said:
"Today is another history-making day for Virgin Galactic. We are here with a group of incredible people who are helping us lead the way in creating one of the most important new industrial sectors of the 21st century. We’ve never wavered in our commitment to the monumental task of pioneering safe, affordable and clean access to space, or to demonstrate that we mean business at each step along the way.”

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In California yesterday, space tourism company Virgin Galactic unveiled a craft designed to carry passengers on short flights into space.

Above photo is by Ned RocknRoll

Called SpaceShipTwo, the craft is expected to begin flights for passengers in 2011.

It will be able to carry two pilots and six passengers on two-and-a-half-hour sub-orbital flights.

More information in our previous story.

Photographs are by Mark Greenberg except where stated otherwise.

Here's some text from Virgin Galactic:

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Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Roll Out

On Monday 7th December Virgin Galactic unveiled SpaceShipTwo to the world at Mojave Spaceport, California.

800 press, future astronauts and VIP guests gathered in the desert for a press conference and to view the roll out of the world's first commercial spaceline.

Sir Richard Branson and Burt Rutan led the press conference, special recognition went to the team at Scaled Deposites whose hard work and dedication have made this happen. Governors Bill Richardson and Arnold Schwarzenegger both contributed at the press conference, celebrating this huge milestone and also joining Holly, Richard's daughter in naming the spaceship, VSS Enterprise.

Above photo is by Ned RocknRoll

Despite gale force winds and stormy weather, guests gathered on the runway after the press conference to see SpaceShipTwo for the first time. The spaceship was carried down the runway by her mothership, VMS Eve, to a spectacular display of lights, music and snow which only helped increase the anticipation of her arrival and excitement and awe as she appeared before the crowds.

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Space tourism company Virgin Galactic have unveiled WhiteKnightTwo, a double-fuselaged aircraft that will carry a spaceship to sub-orbital flight.

The craft will carry SpaceShipTwo from Virgin Galactic's New Mexico space port before releasing it 15km above the Earth's surface, from where the spaceship will take its paying passengers into orbit.

WhiteKnightTwo, christened EVE after Richard Branson's mother, is expected to take its first flight with SpaceShipTwo next year.

More stories about Virgin Galactic on Dezeen:

SpaceShipTwo
New Mexico spaceport

The following is from Virgin Galactic:

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WhiteKnightTwo launch vehicle for SpaceShipTwo heralds a new era in aerospace fuel efficiency, performance and versatility

At 140 ft, the wing spar is the longest single carbon composite aviation component ever manufactured.

Driven by a demanding performance specification set by Virgin Galactic, WK2 has a unique heavy lift, high altitude capability and an open architecture driven design which provides for maximum versatility in the weight, mass and volume of its payload potential.

It has the power, strength and maneuverability to provide for pre space-flight, positive G force and zero G astronaut training as well as a lift capability which is over 30% greater than that represented by a fully crewed SpaceShipTwo. The vehicle has a maximum altitude over 50,000 ft and its U.S. coast-to-coast range will allow the spaceship to be ferried on long duration flights.

An all carbon composite vehicle of this size represents a giant leap for a material technology that has already been identified as a key contributor to the increasingly urgent requirement by the commercial aviation sector for dramatically more fuel efficient aircraft. Powered by four Pratt and Whitney PW308A engines, which are amongst the most powerful, economic and efficient available, WK2 is a mold breaker in carbon efficiency and the epitome of 21st century aerospace design and technology.

The twin fuselage and central payload area configuration allow for easy access to WK2 and to the spaceship for passengers and crew; the design also aids operational efficiencies and turnaround times. WK2 will be able to support up to four daily space flights, is able to carry out both day and night time operations and is equipped with a package of highly advanced avionics.

Rutan’s Scaled Composites facility has been strictly out of bounds whilst design and construction has been underway, but guests today were additionally given a tantalizing preview of SpaceShipTwo, clearly visible but heavily shrouded and well on its way to completion, in the smaller of Scaled’s two hangars awaiting its own rollout in 2009.

Commenting on the rollout, Burt Rutan, Founder of Scaled Composites said:

“WhiteKnightTwo represents the apogee of the application of carbon composites to aerospace and all of us at Scaled are tremendously excited at the capabilities of the Mothership for SpaceShipTwo. I believe the vehicle will be developed and sold for a variety of launch applications beyond the initial requirements of our launch customer, Virgin Galactic. We have set up a new business jointly with Virgin, The Spaceship Company (TSC), to develop these vehicles and we very much hope that its efficiency will herald a wake up call to the aerospace industry and the necessity of using new materials and technologies in the future"

Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Galactic added:

“As usual, Burt and the Scaled team have created a beauty and this is a very proud day for us all. The rollout of WhiteKnightTwo takes the Virgin Galactic vision to the next level and continues to provide tangible evidence that this most ambitious of projects is not only for real but is making tremendous progress towards our goal of safe commercial operation.

Virgin Galactic is central to our ambition at Virgin to become the world’s leading group in the operation of energy and environmentally efficient transportation, in the air, on the ground and in space. We are naming it EVE after my Mother, Eve Branson but also because it represents a first and a new beginning, the chance for our ever growing group of future astronauts and other scientists and payload specialists to see our world in a completely new light. I for one can’t wait!”

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Space tourism company Virgin Galactic has unveiled the design of SpaceShipTwo, a craft that will carry eight passengers on short space flights.

When commercial flights start from Virgin Galactic's New Mexico Spaceport, the craft will be carried to sub-orbital flight on a carrier aircraft called White Knight Two (above).

Info from Virgin Galactic:

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VIRGIN GALACTIC HERALDS ‘THE YEAR OF THE SPACESHIP’ WITH THE UNVEILING OF THE DESIGNS OF SPACESHIPTWO AND WHITE KNIGHT TWO

New York, New York, 23rd January 2008: Virgin Galactic today unveiled the design of its new, 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.

The construction of the White Knight Two (WK2) mothership, or carrier aircraft, is now very close to completion at Scaled Composites in Mojave, CA and is expected to begin flight testing in the summer of 2008. It is the world’s largest, all carbon composite aircraft; it 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. The WK2 mothership has also been designed to be capable of lifting other payload and launching it 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.

SpaceShipTwo is now nearly 60% complete. It incorporates both the lessons learned from the SpaceShipOne program and the market research conducted by Virgin Galactic into the requirements future astronauts have for their space flight experience. It also has built-in flexibility to encompass future requirements for other scientific and commercial applications.

Whilst 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 $30m representing more than $45m of future income to the fledgling spaceline.

Astronaut orientation for spaceflight is progressing well and already 80 of SpaceShipTwo’s first passengers have been through medical assessment and centrifuge training at the NASTAR facility in Philadelphia. During their G Force acclimatization program, the participants were spun to 3.5GZ (head to toe) and 6GX (front to back) to simulate the actual flight profile of SpaceShipTwo during a 110km (68 miles) apogee sub-orbital space flight.

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