White Knight 2
White Knight 2 is the name of Virgin Galactic's "mothership," a plane designed to reach a height of 50,000 feet in order to propel manned spacecraft SpaceShipTwo into suborbital space and back.1
Fast Facts
- Design firm: Scaled Composites2
- Can reach height of 50,000 feet1
- Designed to be launch platform for SpaceShipTwo2
- Made entirely of carbon composite fiber except for engines and landing gear2
- Can carry SpaceShipTwo coast to coast in United States2
Riding in the White Knight 2
Designed by the firm Scaled Composites, the White Knight 2 is made almost entirely of carbon composite fiber.2 Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson hopes to begin taking paying passengers aboard the White Knight 2 and SpaceShipTwo by 2012.3 As of late July 2008, 270 people have placed deposits of up to $200,000 apiece to take the planned voyage into suborbital space.3 4
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