Photo: Virgin Galactic
Back in the summer of 2021, billionaire Richard Branson took to space on board the VSS Unity spacecraft. It was supposed to be the long-awaited start of Virgin Galactic’s commercial operations, but the Universe conspired and the company is yet to earn money from real customers for short trips to the edge of space.
That’s not to say though that Virgin and Branson gave up. Quite the opposite in fact, as they plan on manufacturing, possibly starting as soon as next year, some six spaceships per year, and later fly them on a weekly basis with customers on board.
The spaceships in question are of a new design and they’re called Delta class, a contraption with about the same functionality as existing ones, but tailored for high-production volumes. And they’ll be made by Virgin together with Bell Textron and Qarbon Aerospace, two companies that were just selected as partners in the project.
Bell will be tasked with supplying the feathering system that makes Virgin's spaceships so unique, and the flight control surfaces. Qarbon on the other hand will make the fuselage and wing, while Virgin itself will be in charge with the overall system architecture, design, final assembly, and integration.
“The Delta class spaceships are an evolution of our distinctive flight system, designed for improved manufacturability, maintenance and flight rate capability,” said in a statement Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier.
“Bell and Qarbon Aerospace are established partners who bring know-how, ideas and resources that will enable us to produce up to six new Delta Class ships per year. Together with Aurora Flight Sciences, who is producing our next gen motherships, we now have the primary suppliers in place to propel the production of our spaceline fleet at scale.”
The company says production of the six-person spaceship will commence in 2023 at its facility in Arizona. The first ones will be test-flown well into the middle of the decade, and the first revenue-generating payload flights are expected to take place in 2025. One year after that, private passenger flights should follow.
The spaceships in question are of a new design and they’re called Delta class, a contraption with about the same functionality as existing ones, but tailored for high-production volumes. And they’ll be made by Virgin together with Bell Textron and Qarbon Aerospace, two companies that were just selected as partners in the project.
Bell will be tasked with supplying the feathering system that makes Virgin's spaceships so unique, and the flight control surfaces. Qarbon on the other hand will make the fuselage and wing, while Virgin itself will be in charge with the overall system architecture, design, final assembly, and integration.
“The Delta class spaceships are an evolution of our distinctive flight system, designed for improved manufacturability, maintenance and flight rate capability,” said in a statement Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier.
“Bell and Qarbon Aerospace are established partners who bring know-how, ideas and resources that will enable us to produce up to six new Delta Class ships per year. Together with Aurora Flight Sciences, who is producing our next gen motherships, we now have the primary suppliers in place to propel the production of our spaceline fleet at scale.”
The company says production of the six-person spaceship will commence in 2023 at its facility in Arizona. The first ones will be test-flown well into the middle of the decade, and the first revenue-generating payload flights are expected to take place in 2025. One year after that, private passenger flights should follow.
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