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Aviation Week article about their visit to TSC - The Spaceship Company, Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites facility for assembly line production of SpaceShipTwo and White Kinght Two
Aviation Week....
[quote/]An Inside Look At A New Spaceship Factory
Shimmering, mirage-like, in the heat of California’s Mojave Desert, the newly completed steel and concrete of the world’s first commercial suborbital spaceship factory proves the goal of space tourism is nearing fruition.
Located across the flightline from Scaled Composites at Mojave Air & Space Port, The Spaceship Co.’s (TSC) 68,000-sq.-ft. Final Assembly, Integration and Test Hangar (Faith) will soon be humming with activity. By September the facility will start producing the first sections for a second WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft along with the first of multiple SpaceShipTwo (SS2) suborbital vehicles for Virgin Galactic and, ultimately, other customers.
TSC is a joint venture between Virgin Group and Northrop Grumman subsidiary Scaled Composites. It was set up to bridge the gap between the hand-made, prototyping style of the California-based spaceship developer and a standardized “big aerospace†production facility in the mold of Boeing or Lockheed Martin, capable of delivering safe, reliable passenger-carrying spacecraft.
TSC was initially tasked with making one WK2 and four SS2s for Virgin Galactic, and Operations Director Enrico Palermo says: “I’m confident we’ll be building more.†Together with the first WK2 and SS2 already built and in test, Virgin plans to operate an initial fleet of two carriers and five spacecraft, though hopes are high that other “spaceline†customers will emerge.
For now, Palermo says, “our blinders are set on serving our first customer, and getting these spacecraft flying.†With flight tests of the first SS2 accelerating and the first rocket-powered flights expected in coming months, the configuration of the production variants of both spacecraft and carrier aircraft are close to finalization. “WK2 is flying and meeting its objectives, so that’s more or less set,†says Joe Brennan, TSC vehicle production manager, who adds that the company is also “pretty happy†with the minor design changes on the SS2 required so far.
Despite the SS2 not yet having flown with its Scaled-Sierra Nevada RM2 hybrid rocket engine, Palermo says fast-paced aerodynamic and control system tests are approaching commercial-level sortie rates between spaceship glide flights. “We’ve started to show we can really turn these vehicles around,†says Palermo, who notes that five test flights were achieved between June 14 and 27, including the first 24-hr. turnaround between two flights on June 14 and 15. Various modifications made to the 60-ft.-long, 42-ft.-wingspan vehicle so far include the addition of vortex generators and nose strakes.
TSC work at Mojave is focused on two main fabrication and assembly facilities, with a third hangar soon to be leased for storage. The bulk of fabrication will take place in Building 79, a 48,000-sq.-ft. site once used by Scaled. More than $1 million has already been spent upgrading and renovating the facility, which is set up to produce composite panels, subassemblies like the SS2 cabin section and WK2 fuselages, wing skins and empennage. All parts will be shipped to Faith for final assembly. Upgrades include energy-efficiency improvements, installation of a clean room, a 40 X 24 X 12-ft. oven for curing composites and a metals workshop with a CNC lathe.
The bright, clean-looking facility is in sharp contrast to its former appearance. “Nine to 12 months before this it was empty, and six months before that, it was a cave in here,†says Brennan. “There was no clean room or anything, it was just empty.â€
The progress is paralleled by the ramp-up in the TSC workforce. “There were just 12 employees then,†comments Palermo. “Now we’re adding at a rate of around 10 per month, and will grow from 70 or so now to 175 by late 2012 and early 2013. The majority of those will be in engineering.†To support the buildup, TSC is embarked on a major recruitment drive. “We’re looking for the best and the brightest. The sort of people who want to engineer the world’s first commercially developed passenger spaceships,†he declares.
The largest single parts made in Building 79 are the continuous composite primary spars for the WK2. Measuring 135 ft. in length, two spars run through the wing, which is extended with additional tip structure to form a 140-ft. overall span. Resembling a flattened “W†in profile, the spars are laid up by hand and cured in sections by a portable vacuum “oven,†which is repositioned along the span as work progresses.
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Aviation Week....
[quote/]An Inside Look At A New Spaceship Factory
Shimmering, mirage-like, in the heat of California’s Mojave Desert, the newly completed steel and concrete of the world’s first commercial suborbital spaceship factory proves the goal of space tourism is nearing fruition.
Located across the flightline from Scaled Composites at Mojave Air & Space Port, The Spaceship Co.’s (TSC) 68,000-sq.-ft. Final Assembly, Integration and Test Hangar (Faith) will soon be humming with activity. By September the facility will start producing the first sections for a second WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft along with the first of multiple SpaceShipTwo (SS2) suborbital vehicles for Virgin Galactic and, ultimately, other customers.
TSC is a joint venture between Virgin Group and Northrop Grumman subsidiary Scaled Composites. It was set up to bridge the gap between the hand-made, prototyping style of the California-based spaceship developer and a standardized “big aerospace†production facility in the mold of Boeing or Lockheed Martin, capable of delivering safe, reliable passenger-carrying spacecraft.
TSC was initially tasked with making one WK2 and four SS2s for Virgin Galactic, and Operations Director Enrico Palermo says: “I’m confident we’ll be building more.†Together with the first WK2 and SS2 already built and in test, Virgin plans to operate an initial fleet of two carriers and five spacecraft, though hopes are high that other “spaceline†customers will emerge.
For now, Palermo says, “our blinders are set on serving our first customer, and getting these spacecraft flying.†With flight tests of the first SS2 accelerating and the first rocket-powered flights expected in coming months, the configuration of the production variants of both spacecraft and carrier aircraft are close to finalization. “WK2 is flying and meeting its objectives, so that’s more or less set,†says Joe Brennan, TSC vehicle production manager, who adds that the company is also “pretty happy†with the minor design changes on the SS2 required so far.
Despite the SS2 not yet having flown with its Scaled-Sierra Nevada RM2 hybrid rocket engine, Palermo says fast-paced aerodynamic and control system tests are approaching commercial-level sortie rates between spaceship glide flights. “We’ve started to show we can really turn these vehicles around,†says Palermo, who notes that five test flights were achieved between June 14 and 27, including the first 24-hr. turnaround between two flights on June 14 and 15. Various modifications made to the 60-ft.-long, 42-ft.-wingspan vehicle so far include the addition of vortex generators and nose strakes.
TSC work at Mojave is focused on two main fabrication and assembly facilities, with a third hangar soon to be leased for storage. The bulk of fabrication will take place in Building 79, a 48,000-sq.-ft. site once used by Scaled. More than $1 million has already been spent upgrading and renovating the facility, which is set up to produce composite panels, subassemblies like the SS2 cabin section and WK2 fuselages, wing skins and empennage. All parts will be shipped to Faith for final assembly. Upgrades include energy-efficiency improvements, installation of a clean room, a 40 X 24 X 12-ft. oven for curing composites and a metals workshop with a CNC lathe.
The bright, clean-looking facility is in sharp contrast to its former appearance. “Nine to 12 months before this it was empty, and six months before that, it was a cave in here,†says Brennan. “There was no clean room or anything, it was just empty.â€
The progress is paralleled by the ramp-up in the TSC workforce. “There were just 12 employees then,†comments Palermo. “Now we’re adding at a rate of around 10 per month, and will grow from 70 or so now to 175 by late 2012 and early 2013. The majority of those will be in engineering.†To support the buildup, TSC is embarked on a major recruitment drive. “We’re looking for the best and the brightest. The sort of people who want to engineer the world’s first commercially developed passenger spaceships,†he declares.
The largest single parts made in Building 79 are the continuous composite primary spars for the WK2. Measuring 135 ft. in length, two spars run through the wing, which is extended with additional tip structure to form a 140-ft. overall span. Resembling a flattened “W†in profile, the spars are laid up by hand and cured in sections by a portable vacuum “oven,†which is repositioned along the span as work progresses.
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