The test program for WhiteKnight2, the VMS Eve, is escalating with approximately 2 test flights per week.  Here are the key achievements:

Flown to 45,000ft
Flown 6.1 hours in a single flight
Pulling g’s at altitude up to 2.5g’s
Practiced putting the wheels up and down at various altitudes and speeds
Practiced a stall – meaning they shut down the engines and re-start them inflight.
Flown to a peak speed of 340 KTAS with the landing gear both up and down. This is approximately 630kph/390mph
For those interested KTAS stands for Knots True Air Speed and measures the speed of an aircraft relative to undisturbed air. You can find out more about this on Wikipedia.

Mojave Air and Spaceport, California 

July 28th 2008 

 

Virgin Founder, Sir Richard Branson and SpaceShipOne designer, Burt Rutan, today pulled back the 

hangar doors on the new WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft that will ferry SpaceShipTwo and 

thousands  of  private  astronauts,  science  packages  and  payload  on  the  first  stage  of  the  Virgin 

Galactic sub‐orbital space experience. 

  

The rollout represents another major milestone in Virgin Galactic’s quest to launch the world’s first 

private, environmentally benign, space access system for people, payload and science.  

Christened “EVE” in honor of Sir Richard’s mother, who performed the official naming ceremony, 

WK2 is both visually remarkable and represents ground‐breaking aerospace technology. It is the 

world’s largest all carbon composite aircraft and many of its component parts have been built using 

composite materials for the very first time. 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. 

Large numbers of VIP’s, media and more than 100 fully signed‐up future Virgin Galactic astronauts 

flew into Mojave for the rollout onboard a new Airbus A320 aircraft specially chartered from Virgin 

America, the youngest and most efficient US domestic airline, which launched to great acclaim in 

2007.  

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. This will be scheduled once WK2 is at the appropriate stage 

in its extensive test program, which has already begun with ground tests; it is expected to take its first 

flight in the fall of 2008.  The flight test program will be comprehensive even before SpaceShipTwo is 

carried as a payload for the first time 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 arrived here this morning on an aircraft operated by Virgin America, who run the most fuel 

efficient commercial fleet in the US, to roll out what by most definitions, is the most energy efficient 

aircraft in history.  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!” 

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. 

 

Large numbers of VIP’s, media and more than 100 fully signed‐up future Virgin Galactic astron

I tried to think of a catchy title using words like “Wow!” or “Amazing” or “Incredible”. First of all those aren’t catchy words; in addition, they are overused; and third, they don’t adequately describe the exhiliration, the awe, and excitement I felt when I first saw Eve. Eve is very young and is the prodigy of Burt Rutan and Bob Morgan. She is sleek, sexy and a Virgin! Despite her youth she is already a mother. Immaculate conception? Hardly!

Who is Eve? Her full name is VMS Eve and she is Virgin Galactic’s new mothership! Introduced in late July to the press and to Astronauts who have already made a reservation to experience Space, Eve and I met on August 15th. As one of the 47 original Accredited Space Agents in the US and 1 of fewer than 100 ASA’s worldwide, Virgin Galactic flew us to Mojave, California to view firsthand the new mothership. By the way, Eve was named after Sir Richard Branson’s mother, Eve!

We landed at Scaled Composites and were greeted and hosted by Burt Rutan, winner of the Ansari X Prize in 2004. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Rutan. We met Bob Morgan, lead engineer for the project (who, as a young child, lived for a very short time in my home town, Highland Park, Il), several other important team members and Brian Binnie, test pilot, who flew Spaceship1 on her second flight to Space, securing the Ansari X Prize.

In addition to the excitement of watching history in the making, I was struck by the humility of all the team. When Burt, Bob, and Brian did Q & A with us, they talked in plain English. They stressed the team effort and how all participants are familiar with all phases of the design, build, and soon-to-happen testing. I was inspired by the lack of ego and the sense of true community.

I had my picture taken with Eve and as soon as I get it, I’ll post it here! Meanwhile, here are 2 photos—one from the initial rollout in July and one of all of the ASA’s on August 15th!