Will Support Sierra Nevada Space Systems, Orbital Sciences In CCDEV2

Virgin Galactic said Thursday that it will be supporting Sierra Nevada Space Systems’ (SNC) and Orbital Sciences Corporation's (OSC) work on commercial space vehicles.

VG has long stated its ambition to use the success and experience gained through its SpaceShipTwo sub-orbital space program to develop new markets and products with the aim of transforming the safety, cost and environmental impact of access to space. With this in mind, it has watched the growth of the commercial manned orbital field closely. The second phase of NASA’s Commercial Crew Development Program (CCDEV2), designed to stimulate development of privately-operated crew vehicles to low Earth orbit, presents an opportunity for VG to start to map a path towards a commercial orbital service for fare-paying passengers by encouraging reusable technologies and designs which can offer important advantages to safety, cost and passenger experience.

Both SNC and OSC are pursuing vehicle designs under CCDEV2 featuring reusable lifting-wing bodies and runway landings, which VG believes could revolutionize orbital space flight in much the same way that SpaceShipTwo has revolutionized sub-orbital space flight.

As a contributor to SNC’s and OSC’s submissions to NASA, VG is proposing to market seats on these vehicles to the public and to its existing customer base, which now numbers more than 400 people who have made deposits of over $54 million. VG will also investigate providing its mothership, WhiteKnightTwo, to SNC and OSC during their test flight programs.

Orbital Sciences CCDEV2 Proposed Spacecraft

“Virgin Galactic has shown in the past few years how private sector investment and innovation can lead to a rapid transformation of stagnant technologies," said founder Sir Richard Branson. "We are now very close to making the dream of sub-orbital space a reality for thousands of people at a cost and level of safety unimaginable even in the recent past. We know that many of those same people, including myself, would also love to take an orbital space trip in the future, so we are putting our weight behind new technologies that could deliver that safely whilst driving down the enormous current costs of manned orbital flight by millions of dollars."

“The knowledge gained by Virgin in the development and promotion of the history making SpaceShipTwo suborbital system will add considerably to our program," said Mark N. Sirangelo, Corporate Vice President and head of Sierra Nevada Space Systems. "We are proud to be the prime rocket motor provider to SpaceShipTwo and to have Virgin Galactic joining a growing group of world-class space companies who form our Dream Chaser team. Their participation will truly enhance our efforts.”

Mark Sirangelo

Frank Culbertson, Orbital Science’s Senior Vice President and former NASA astronaut, said "Virgin Galactic is clearly breaking new ground in the commercial space market, and we are now very excited to have them on our team. This partnership for marketing and supporting our innovative and affordable design carries a great deal of promise for achieving the kind of growth in commercial spaceflight that will help to make this a sustainable market in the future.”

FMI: www.virgingalactic.com