The Spaceship Company
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| The Spaceship Company | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Founded | Mojave, California (2005) |
| Headquarters | Mojave, California |
| Key people | Burt Rutan and Richard Branson (Founders) |
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Products | spacecraft manufacturing |
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. This includes developments on the care-free reentry system and cantilevered-hybrid rocket motor, licensed from Paul Allen and Burt Rutan's Mojave Aerospace. The company will manufacture Virgin Galactic's spacecraft and will sell spacecraft to other buyers. The suborbital launch system offered will be Tier 1b, that of SpaceShipTwo and White Knight Two.
The launch customer for the company and SS2/WK2 will be Virgin Galactic, having placed an order for five SpaceShipTwos and two White Knight Twos, with a 1½-year exclusivity clause.
[edit] References
- "Richard Branson and Burt Rutan Form Spacecraft Building Company", SPACE.com, July 27, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-09-04.
- "Branson And Rutan Launch New Spaceship Manufacturing Company", ScienceDaily, July 28, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-09-04.
- Scaled Composites (July 27, 2005). "Branson and Rutan Form 'The Spaceship Company' To Jointly Manufacture and Market Spaceships for the new Sub-Orbital Personal Spaceflight Industry". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-09-04.
The Spaceship Company | ||
|---|---|---|
| Companies | Virgin Galactic (Virgin Group) · Scaled Composites (Northrop Grumman) · Mojave Aerospace Ventures | Image:SpaceShipOne Nose.jpg |
| People | Richard Branson · Burt Rutan · Paul Allen · Mike Melvill · Brian Binnie | |
| Ships | SpaceShipOne · White Knight · SpaceShipTwo · White Knight Two · SpaceShipThree | |
| Sequence | Tier One ( 11P · 13P · 14P · 15P · 16P · 17P ) · Tier 1b · Tier Two | |
| Places | Mojave Spaceport · Spaceport America · Spaceport Sweden | |
| See also... | Ansari X Prize · Kármán line · Other companies · Space tourism · Sub-orbital spaceflight· Suborbital spaceplane | |
