The Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is an air-launched suborbital spaceplane type designed for space tourism. It is manufactured by The Spaceship Company, a California-based company owned by Virgin Galactic.
SpaceShipTwo is carried to its launch altitude by a Scaled Composites White Knight Two, before being released to fly on into the upper atmosphere powered by its rocket engine. It then glides back to Earth and performs a conventional runway landing.[1] The spaceship was officially unveiled to the public on 7 December 2009 at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.[2] On 29 April 2013, after nearly three years of unpowered testing, the first one constructed successfully performed its first powered test flight.[3]
Virgin Galactic plans to operate a fleet of five SpaceShipTwo spaceplanes in a private passenger-carrying service[4][5][6][7] and has been taking bookings for some time, with a suborbital flight carrying an updated ticket price of US$250,000.[8] The spaceplane could also be used to carry scientific payloads for NASA and other organizations.[9]
On 31 October 2014, during a test flight, the first SpaceShipTwo VSS Enterprise broke up in flight and crashed in the Mojave desert.[10][11][12][13] A preliminary investigation suggested that the craft's descent device deployed too early.[14][15] One pilot, Michael Alsbury, was killed; the other was treated for a serious shoulder injury after parachuting from the stricken spacecraft.[16][17]
The second SpaceShipTwo spacecraft, VSS Unity, was unveiled on 19 February 2016.[18][19] The vehicle is undergoing flight testing.[20][21][22] Its first flight to space (above 50 miles altitude), VSS Unity VP03, took place on 13 December 2018.[23][24]