Space travel company Virgin Galactic on Wednesday said it had reached an agreement with Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences to build two new air launch carrier aircraft for its spaceships.

These new "motherships" will replace Virgin Galactic's existing carrier plane -- the VMS Eve built by Scaled Composites -- with the first of the new aircraft due to enter service by 2025. The company also plans to launch new "Delta-class" spaceships the same year.

The value of the contract was not disclosed.

Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in a statement the next generation motherships "will be faster to produce, easier to maintain and will allow us to fly substantially more missions each year."

He added the goal was 400 flights per year from the company's base in New Mexico, called Spaceport America.

Todd Citron, Boeing's Chief Technology Officer added: "Boeing is excited to contribute our culture of safety, our operational excellence, and our expertise in aircraft design and manufacturing to help advance human space travel."

The statement did not however offer any technical details.

Established in 2004, Virgin Galactic is looking to build on the success of a high profile test mission in 2021, which saw its founder Richard Branson experience a few minutes' weightlessness on the edge of space.

Unlike other companies that use vertical-launch rockets, Virgin Galactic uses a carrier aircraft that takes off from a runway, gains high altitude, and drops a rocket-powered spaceplane that soars into space before gliding back to Earth.

Both VMS Eve and the company's spaceplane VMS Unity are at the company's production facility in Mojave, California, where they are undergoing maintenance. Virgin Galactic said its first commercial missions will begin in the first quarter of 2023.

Related Links
Aerospace News at SpaceMart.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

The hawk has landed: Braking mid-air to prioritize safety over energy or speed
Oxford UK (SPX) Jul 06, 2022
Researchers at the University of Oxford have found that hawks control their flight to ensure the safest landing conditions when perching, even if it takes longer and more energy to do so. Understanding how birds optimise their landing manoeuvres through learning may help in developing small aircraft capable of perching like birds. In new research published in Nature, four Harris' hawks wearing tiny retroreflective markers were tracked flying back and forth between two perches. Their precise moveme ... read more