In one little pace for commercial space travelling , Virgin Galactic hasreceived a licenceto pilot its newest ballistic capsule by the US Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) . To get the licence , Virgin Galactic had to act upon with the FAA for years to show their procession on vehiclesystem pattern , safety analysis , and flight flight psychoanalysis .
In essence , the licence will formally allow Virgin Galactic to set off fix for test flights with their young model , which could someday take pay tourists on tripper into space . The company has not yet announced when this will take place , though .
SpaceShipTwois a recyclable space vehicle capable of conduct eight passengers and two pilots . To get off the earth , it ’s first lift to an EL of 15,000 meter ( 50,000 pes ) by a specially designed jet aircraft call WhiteKnightTwo . From here , it ’s released and uses a hybrid rocket motor to progress to beyond the official boundary of space – the Karman Line , 100 kilometers ( 62 miles ) in high spirits . It then cruises for a few minutes , before re - entering Earth ’s atmosphere with its unequalled feathering system .
“ The granting of our operator license is an important milestone for Virgin Galactic , as is our first taxi test for our novel spaceship , ” Virgin Galactic Senior Vice President of Operations Mike Moses said in astatement . “ While we still have much work ahead to amply test this starship in flight , I am confident that our man - course of study team is up to the challenge . ”
The FAA ’s Commercial Space Transportation License , which you canview in full here , add that Virgin will have to report on their current locomotive software , hardware , and performances during tests before they are allowed any people on board during a space travel .
This is not the first time Virgin Galactic has received FAA favourable reception for a spaceflight test vehicle . One was granted for the original SpaceShipTwo , VSS Enterprise , before its tragic demise in a deathly accident on October 31 , 2014 . The crash kill co - fender Michael Alsbury and sternly hurt pilot Peter Siebold .
Virgin founder Richard Branson state in a press group discussion at the fourth dimension of the clang : " blank space flight is toilsome – but worth it . "
