Virgin Galactic, the aspiring space tourism company founded by Sir Richard Branson, is on track to begin powered test flights of its spaceship this summer, with the goal of starting passenger flights in 2013.
Virgin CEO George Whitesides discussed the coming test flights at a meeting in January with the Aerospace & Defense Forum. The coming test flights mark the first time the spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo will fire the actual rocket that it will use to fly into sub-orbit, 60-plus miles above the Earth.
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In the first part of the flight, SpaceShipTwo is carried into the air by WhiteKnightTwo, a special plane built specifically for that purpose. Virgin has been performing test flights that involve SpaceShipTwo gliding back down to the ground for more than a year.
"Over the next few months we're integrating parts and pieces of the hybrid rocket motor into the SpaceShipTwo airframe, completing ground testing of the rocket motor, and then [will] try and start powered flight over the summer," Whitesides told SPACE.com. The tests will continue over many months, and Whitesides says he hopes they'll get to space altitudes by the end of the year.
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He also said he hopes Virgin Galactic will begin commercial operations by 2013. Originally, Virgin had planned to start ferrying passengers into space by 2008. That was later pushed back to 2010, then 2012.
Natasha Pavlovich, a Serbian-American who was one of the first people to buy a ticket on Virgin Galactic, isn't getting her hopes up that the 2013 date will stick.
"I wish it would have happened sooner," Pavlovich told Mashable. "But in light of safety, there's no time limit. I don't think it'll be for another several years, because every year for the last six years they've been saying 'next year.'"
The multiple delays haven't dampened Pavlovich's determination to fly into space, however: "I'd still like to venture into space and carry the American and Serbian flags up there," she says.
Virgin isn't deterred either. Even though it hasn't put a single passenger in orbit yet, it's already begun construction of a second pair of vehicles -- another WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo -- in anticipation of demand for flights. Whitesides said they've already collected $60 million on tickets, representing $100 million worth of business.
Are you optimistic that Virgin Galactic will start flying for real next year? Or do you think it'll be delayed again? Let us know in the comments.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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