Virgin Galactic, Branson's space venture

[XB-70A]

4 hours ago, YNM said:

So, when will we see a B747 replacing  a B52 ? 

Almost happened when Boeing made a desperate attempt to convert its HLS competitor (which lost against the Galaxy) in an ALCM carrier:

Would have potentially carried a nice amount of AGM-86s!

 

EDIT: I just realized I got well beaten by @p1t1o   Good reason to wait for a page to fully load before typing, even if it's taking minutes due to a terrible connection...

Edited December 13, 2018 by XB-70A

[Ozymandias_the_Goat]

19 hours ago, Steel said:

82km, which is space in the USAF definition (above 80km), but not above the Karman line.

It’s really not in “space”. Even the karma line is a somewhat conservative boundary, so if a spacecraft cannot penetrate even that, it is dubious whether it really is s spacecraft, or just an advanced plane.

[tater]

Yeah, part of the reason I'm not really interested in this, or in NS, is that I think it's pretty arbitrary. It would be an interesting experience if the cost was on the order of 10-20 times cheaper than what they charge, but for 250k, it's ridiculous (that goes for NS as well).

[DDE]

21 hours ago, MaverickSawyer said:

But yeah, great for war, not so great for smallsat launches.

You’re gonna need a bigger missile.

Or perhaps you can launch a plane that launches a plane that launches a smallsat.

[MaverickSawyer]

That Minuteman test has "Hold my beer" written ALL over it. 

And the flying carrier idea... Well, it's been tried repeatedly in the past, with only limited success... But it's an idea that may finally be reaching the point where it's possible to fully realize it.

[4472TJ]

Yesterday, the first manned spaceflight mission to launch from US soil since 2011 and it was spectacular. The VSS Unity, Virgins idea in the new space race launched into the air for its first test flight in space and achieved a height of 82.7km. This means that the pilots were the first ever commercial space pilots and will be receiving their space wings

[YNM]

Spoiler

"US"

Congrats !

Edited December 15, 2018 by YNM

[razark]

3 hours ago, 4472TJ said:

This means that the pilots were the first ever commercial space pilots and will be receiving their space wings

Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie might want to argue that point.

[4472TJ]

9 minutes ago, razark said:

Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie might want to argue that point.

Well...

What are everyone's opinions on this, is it Spacex as the best, the upcoming Virgin or maybe Boeing?

[YNM]

16 minutes ago, 4472TJ said:

is it Spacex as the best, the upcoming Virgin or maybe Boeing?

Virgin only do suborbital - unstable orbit.

SpaceX is OK.

Boeing is OK.

I suppose everyone have their roles.

[4472TJ]

On 12/14/2018 at 3:01 PM, DDE said:

Or perhaps you can launch a plane that launches a plane.

I have always dreamed of making one of these planes, and it would work, we know that aircraft can air to air refuel so that system should be able to be adapted to launch and retrieve aircraft

[4472TJ]

Mr Branson has though expressed the wish to go on one of his flights, I don't see Elon Musk wanting to do this, nor Boeing's CEO.

[StrandedonEarth]

Musk has said in a tweet and/or interview that he'd like to go to Mars

[4472TJ]

22 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

Musk has said in a tweet and/or interview that he'd like to go to Mars

Problem is, Mr Branson has given us a time, around 6 months from now, and considering it would be incredible if he could do that.

[Bill Phil]

On 12/14/2018 at 7:15 AM, Ozymandias_the_Goat said:

It’s really not in “space”. Even the karma line is a somewhat conservative boundary, so if a spacecraft cannot penetrate even that, it is dubious whether it really is s spacecraft, or just an advanced plane.

Well technically everything is in space, it’s just a question of whether or not it left the atmosphere. It’s pretty tenuous up there, so I’d give it to them.

[Ultimate Steve]

3 hours ago, 4472TJ said:

Problem is, Mr Branson has given us a time, around 6 months from now, and considering it would be incredible if he could do that.

Problem is, they have been saying they will fly to space in about 18 months since 2009. They have finally flown to "Airforce Space" so maybe that will change, but I don't see them flying paying customers for at least another year. I'd love to be pleasantly surprised, though.

[PewPewTrash]

3 hours ago, YNM said:

Virgin only do suborbital - unstable orbit.

SpaceX is OK.

Boeing is OK.

I suppose everyone have their roles.

I would like to point out to basically everyone here that Blue Origin also exists are making a way up the charts by promising to make the New Glenn, a heavy lift rocket.
(For more info just watch this: click me please)

[magnemoe]

5 hours ago, PewPewTrash said:

I would like to point out to basically everyone here that Blue Origin also exists are making a way up the charts by promising to make the New Glenn, a heavy lift rocket.
(For more info just watch this: click me please)

Looking at new Glen size its pretty much heavy lift, smaller than saturn 5 and BFR but larger than anything else. 
Second stage recovery for standard payloads should be plausible because of the margins. 

[YNM]

6 hours ago, PewPewTrash said:

Blue Origin

Still suborbital so far. Boeing has had their share from ye olde days.

[mikegarrison]

10 hours ago, 4472TJ said:

Mr Branson has though expressed the wish to go on one of his flights, I don't see Elon Musk wanting to do this, nor Boeing's CEO.

Branson tried to fly around the world in a balloon. He's a different sort of fellow.

[DDE]

18 hours ago, 4472TJ said:

I have always dreamed of making one of these planes, and it would work, we know that aircraft can air to air refuel so that system should be able to be adapted to launch and retrieve aircraft

The forces and the degree of violation of aerodynamics of the receiving plane (those are pretty huge doors) are a bit different. Getting into position can also be tough - skip to 1:00, watch the fly-by-wire work the tailplanes:

The problem is that there’s a different, easier path: I’ve seen or heard of several patents for an airborne rearmament system.

Once you have that going, there’s a lot less use for a proper aircraft carrier.

[4472TJ]

15 hours ago, Ultimate Steve said:

Problem is, they have been saying they will fly to space in about 18 months since 2009. They have finally flown to "Airforce Space" so maybe that will change, but I don't see them flying paying customers for at least another year. I'd love to be pleasantly surprised, though.

So would I

[DAL59]

@Vanamonde Can you please merge with the other, larger VG thread?

 

On 12/15/2018 at 6:13 AM, 4472TJ said:

Yesterday, the first manned spaceflight mission to launch from US soil since 2011 and it was spectacular. The VSS Unity, Virgins idea in the new space race launched into the air for its first test flight in space and achieved a height of 82.7km. This means that the pilots were the first ever commercial space pilots and will be receiving their space wings

How many unmanned suborbital missions have launched recently?

[wumpus]

On 12/15/2018 at 10:06 AM, YNM said:

Virgin only do suborbital - unstable orbit.

SpaceX is OK.

Boeing is OK.

I suppose everyone have their roles.

Virgin Galactic is only doing suborbital now that they spun Virgin Orbital off.  Presumably Branson and co are still in the orbital smallsat race, although presumably behind rocket labs (like virtually all other smallsat launchers).

"first ever commercial space pilots and will be receiving their space wings": where does Mike Melvill [pilot for Spaceship 1] fit in this?

[YNM]

12 minutes ago, wumpus said:

Virgin Galactic is only doing suborbital now that they spun Virgin Orbital off. 

Oh, yeah, that slips off my focus !

Well, they ain't sending men to orbit on those wing-mounted missile-on-steroids... (unless someone orders a launch, packs themselves in, then slips on probably !)