Second Spaceship in Virgin Galactic’s Fleet Completes Major Build Milestone
09 January 2020 - 12:00AM
Business Wire
“Weight on Wheels” Furthers Company’s Goal of a
Commercial Spaceship Fleet
Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) (“VG” or “the
Company”), the world’s first commercial spaceline, announced today
that it has reached the “Weight on Wheels” milestone in the build
of its second commercial spaceship. In this milestone, all major
structural elements of the vehicle were assembled, and the vehicle
deployed its main landing gear and carried its own weight for the
first time. The milestone signals strong progress in the
manufacture of Virgin Galactic’s space vehicle fleet by The
Spaceship Company, VGH’s wholly-owned aerospace development
subsidiary.
This Weight on Wheels milestone has been reached considerably
faster than it took to get to this stage with the first spaceship
in the Virgin Galactic fleet, VSS Unity, which is currently in
flight test. This pace has been achieved through a more efficient,
modular assembly process, as well as experience curve benefits.
With the spaceship now capable of bearing its own weight, the
assembly team is hard at work connecting the vehicle’s integrated
systems, including the flight control systems from fuselage to tail
booms, as well as completing the final structural closeouts.
As this work is completed, the spaceship will be positioned in
the hangar for the start of integrated vehicle ground testing,
which will verify the integrity of all systems. This step is a
precursor to the start of its flight test program.
Beyond today’s Weight on Wheels milestone for the second space
vehicle, the Virgin Galactic spaceship fleet is already advancing
to its third spaceship, also currently under construction in
Mojave. Structural and system part fabrication for that third
vehicle is now over 50% complete.
George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic said: “Reaching the
Weight on Wheels milestone considerably faster than was achieved
for VSS Unity is a huge accomplishment and is a testament to the
growing expertise and capabilities of the company. We now have two
spaceships that are structurally complete, with our third making
good progress. These spaceships are destined to provide thousands
of private astronauts with a truly transformative experience by
performing regular trips to space.’’
About Virgin Galactic Holdings
Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. is a vertically-integrated
aerospace company pioneering human spaceflight for private
individuals and researchers. It believes the commercial exploration
of space represents one of the most exciting and significant
technology initiatives of our time. It is embarking on this
commercial exploration journey with a mission to put humans into
space and return them safely to earth on a routine, consistent and
affordable basis. Using its proprietary and reusable technologies,
and supported by a distinctive, Virgin-branded customer experience,
it is developing a spaceflight system designed to offer customers a
unique, multi-day experience culminating in a spaceflight that
includes several minutes of weightlessness and views of Earth from
space. It is in the final stages of development, having already
completed multiple crewed flights of its vehicle into space, and
anticipates initial commercial launch in 2020.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements
within the meaning of federal securities laws. Forward-looking
statements are predictions, projections and other statements about
future events that are based on current expectations and
assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and
uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to
differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this
communication. You should carefully consider the risks and
uncertainties described in the “Risk Factors” section of the
registration statement on Form S-4 filed in connection with the
Business Combination and other documents filed by VG from time to
time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other
important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events
and results to differ materially from those contained in the
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only
as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put
undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
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Media Inquiries:
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Antonia Gray/Ollie Bailey-Pratt vg@fticonsulting.com
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