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Thread: VirginGalactic's LauncherOne

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    VirginGalactic's LauncherOne

    VirginGalactic is moving beyond space tourism with the development of LauncherOne, a reusable launch vehicle to take satellites into orbit. Check it out here: http://www.virgingalactic.com/launcherone

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    MEdwards's Avatar
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    So is this two Burt Rutan designs competing with each other? Maybe they ought to get together. Or perhaps they already have.

    http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/12...-up-for-orbit/

    By the way, we're still waiting here in Southern New Mexico to see a return on our tax dollars going to Spaceport America to support Virgin Galactic. Last word was Galactic wanted the brand new runway extended 2000 feet, thank you. When I flew over it a couple weeks ago, they hadn't started doing that.

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    rwanttaja's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zack Baughman View Post
    VirginGalactic is moving beyond space tourism with the development of LauncherOne, a reusable launch vehicle to take satellites into orbit. Check it out here: http://www.virgingalactic.com/launcherone
    That's just the "First stage" of SpaceshipTwo, with an unmanned booster, right? Looks like it's got about half the capacity as Orbital's Pegasus XL/L-1011 combination. Success will depend on the price. However, Orbital has really capitalized on sending multiple small payloads into orbit with a single launch vehicle, so the price difference for 500 pounds might be a wash.

    But then I'm spoiled, I worked on a payload that launched on Pegasus....

    Ron Wanttaja

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    Eric Page's Avatar
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    I was lucky enough to see the L-1011/Pegasus mate-up in person a number of times at Vandenberg AFB ten or twelve years ago. Very impressive operation. Still wear my Orbital Sciences hat from time to time!
    Eric Page
    Building: Kitfox 5 Safari | Rotax 912iS | Dynon HDX
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