Engineering news
Virgin Galactic, has successfully test fired the 3,500 lbf and 47,500 lbf thrust rocket engines it plans to use to propel tourists into space.
The engines, called “Newton One” and “Newton Two” respectively, will be used on its small satellite launch vehicle LauncherOne. Virgin Galactic is developing the two stage LauncherOne rocket to carry satellites into orbit using its WhiteKnightTwo aircraft from 2016.
Virgin Galactic is developing the Newton engines separately from the hybrid rocket motors being developed by US firm Sierra Nevada for use on Spaceshiptwo, the space-plane that will carry passengers into sub-orbit at the cost of $650,000 a time.
The Newton engines are fuelled by kerosene and supercooled liquid oxygen and will be able to carry payloads of up to 225kg into low earth orbit at a cost of around $10 million. So far four companies have signed up to use the launch service.
The Newton One engine, which will be used during the upper stages of flight, successfully completed a full-mission duty cycle, firing for the five-minute duration expected of the upper stage engine on a typical flight to orbit. The larger Newton Two engine, which would be used in the first stage of the launch, has been hot-fired several times for just a few seconds. The engine has to fire for two and half minutes and longer duration firings are scheduled to occur in coming months.
The tests are being conducted on two test stands that Virgin Galactic designed, assembled and installed at Mojave, California.
George Whitesides, Virgin Galactic chief executive, said: “We are now well on our way to providing customers with the lowest cost opportunity for small satellite manufacturers and operators to buy a dedicated ride to space. The unique environment in Mojave enables the team to design, manufacture, assemble and test the engines in a single location, which allows us to make progress swiftly.”
Virgin Galactic is owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments PJS.
The news of successful engine testing follows a week of bad press for the project, which saw investigative reporter Tim Bower suggest Virgin Galactic may never achieve space flight. In his book, Branson Behind the Mask, Bower speculates that the rocket motor may never be powerful enough to take people into space.
The company has also yet to be granted a licence from the US Federal Aviation Administration, which will need to be convinced that it is safe, said Bower.