VSS Enterprise GF16

Overview

Destination: Suborbital
Mission: Test Flight

Suborbital Mojave Air and Space Port Air launch to Suborbital flight

Free glide test flight of VSS Enterprise.

SpaceShipTwo

Family:
Configuration:

The Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is an air-launched suborbital spaceplane type designed for space tourism. It is manufactured by The Spaceship Company, a California-based company owned by Virgin Galactic.

Specifications
  • Stages
    1
  • Length
    18.0 m
  • Diameter
    8.2 m
  • Fairing Diameter
  • Launch Mass
    9.0 T
  • Thrust
    310.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    SpaceShipTwo
  • Family
  • Variant
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    SpaceShipTwo
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
  • Low Earth Orbit
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

VSS Enterprise


Active Human Rated Crew On-board: 2 Crew Capacity: 8
Destination: Suborbital
Serial Number: N339SS

VSS Enterprise was the first SpaceShipTwo (SS2) spaceplane, built by Scaled Composites for Virgin Galactic. As of 2004, it was planned to be the first of five commercial suborbital SS2 spacecraft planned by Virgin Galactic. Enterprise was destroyed during a powered test flight on 31 October 2014, killing one pilot, Michael Alsbury, and seriously injuring another, Peter Siebold. An investigation revealed the accident was caused by premature deployment of the "feathering" system, the ship's descent device; the NTSB also faulted the spacecraft's design for lacking fail-safe mechanisms that could have deterred or prevented early deployment.

SpaceShipTwo Details

Crew


Clint Nichols

Pilot - configurations.Country.None - ( VG )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: Jan. 1, 1970
Age: 56

Mark Stucky

Pilot - configurations.Country.None - ( VG )

Status: Retired

Date of Birth: Nov. 9, 1958
Age: 67

Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic

(VG)

Founder: Richard Branson Founded: 2004 Successes: 62 Failures: 5 Pending: 1

Agency Type:

Virgin Galactic is an American spaceflight company within the Virgin Group. It is developing commercial spacecraft and aims to provide suborbital spaceflights to space tourists. Virgin Galactic's suborbital spacecraft are air launched from beneath a carrier airplane known as White Knight Two.

INFO WIKI

Air launch to Suborbital flight

Mojave Air and Space Port


Falcon 9
Success
11 hours, 30 minutes ago
Starlink Group 17-33
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 25 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 2F/G
Success
1 day, 4 hours ago
Chinese Reusable Space Vehicle
Launch Area 91 (SLS-1 / 921) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

4th flight of the Chinese spaceplane capable of returning to Earth.


Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M
Success
2 days, 13 hours ago
Kosmos (Unknown Payload)
43/4 (43R) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Unknown classified payload(s) for the Russian military.


Falcon 9
Success
5 days, 16 hours ago
Starlink Group 17-32
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 25 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 2C
Success
1 week, 1 day ago
AlSat 3B
Launch Area 94 (SLS-2 / 603) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Earth observation satellite built by China's CAST for the Algerian Space Agency.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Starlink Group 6-101
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Electron
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Bridging The Swarm (NeonSat-1A)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

The NeonSat-1A, carrying a high-resolution optical camera, is designed to test the constellation capabilities of the South Korean government's Earth …


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Starlink Group 17-19
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 25 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 4 days ago
GPS III SV09
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Ninth of ten GPS III missions.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 6 days ago
Starlink Group 17-20
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 25 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.