35°03′20″N118°09′18″W / 35.0555664°N 118.155105°W /35.0555664; -118.155105
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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | Mojave, California (2005) |
| Founders | Burt Rutan andRichard Branson |
| Headquarters | Mojave, California[1] |
Key people | George Whitesides (CEO) Enrico Palermo (President) Jon Campagna (CFO) |
| Products | Spacecraft and aircraft production[1] |
Number of employees | 430 (July 2018)[2] |
| Parent | Virgin Galactic |
| Website | [1] www.virgingalactic.com/ |
The Spaceship Company (TSC) is a British/Americanspacecraft manufacturing company that was founded byBurt Rutan andRichard Branson in mid-2005 and was jointly owned byVirgin Group (70%) andScaled Composites (30%) until 2012 whenVirgin Galactic became the sole owner.[3] TSC was formed to own the technology created by Scaled forVirgin Galactic'sVirgin SpaceShip program. This includes developments on thecare-free reentry[4] system andcantilevered-hybrid rocket motor, licensed fromPaul Allen andBurt Rutan'sMojave Aerospace. The company is manufacturing Virgin Galactic's spacecraft and has plans to sell spacecraft to other buyers.[5]
Thesuborbital launch system offered included theSpaceShipTwo (SS2)spacecraft and theWhite Knight Two (WK2) carrier aircraft.[6]
The company was founded in 2005 byBurt Rutan andRichard Branson, and was initially jointly owned byVirgin Group andScaled Composites, to own the technology created by Scaled forVirgin Galactic'sVirgin SpaceShip program. Virgin Galactic was announced to be the launch customer for the SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo vehicles. Virgin placed an initial order for five SpaceShipTwos and two WhiteKnightTwos,[7] with "exclusive use ofthe systems for the initial 18 months of commercial passenger operations."[8]
By late 2010, the company had announced plans to build threeWhiteKnightTwo aircraft and fiveSpaceShipTwo rocket planes.[9]
Since the first WK2 and the first SS2 were built by Scaled Composites, TSC had responsibility for the manufacture of the second WK2 aircraft (not built as of 2024) and the second SS2 spacecraft for Virgin Galactic, as well as additional production craft as other customers for the vehicles would emerge.[10][5]
Virgin Galactic acquired 100% ownership of TSC in 2012, by acquiring the 30% stake still owned by Scaled Composites,[11] which itself had been acquired byNorthrop Grumman.[12]
The company had grown to 70 persons by July 2011,[5] 145 by June 2013,[13] 250 by July 2014,[14] and 430 by July 2018.
In June 2013,Doug Shane joined TSC to become executive VP and general manager, ending a 31-year career with Scaled Composites, including five as president.[15][13] In July 2014, Shane was named president of the company.[14]
In 2016, it was announced that TSC, Virgin Galactic, and the Virgin Group, would be collaborating withBoom Technology to develop asupersonic trans-oceanic passenger jetliner.[16][17]
By February 2018, The Spaceship Company was "duplicating and testing prototypes of an original design of SpaceShipTwo" with the goal of sending a model into space in 2019.[18] It was building models for Virgin Galactic.[19]
In March 2010, following the construction of the prototypes of WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo by Scaled Composites, The Spaceship Company stated in 2010 that it was moving the aircraft and spacecraft into commercial production.[20]
By July 2014, TSC was halfway complete with the build of the second SpaceShipTwo[14]—VSSUnity—and was 65 percent complete as of early November 2014. Virgin Galactic rolled out VSSUnity on 19 February 2016.[21][22]A release by TSC on the company's Twitter account in May 2018 showed two more spacecraft, after VSSUnity, under construction.[23]
TSC collaborated withBoom Technology to create a newsupersonic transport. The initial 1/3-size prototype would be theXB-1 "Baby Boom" Supersonic Demonstrator.[16][17]
In November 2010, TSC broke ground on a 68,000-square-foot (6,300 m2) aircraft assembly plant atMojave Air and Space Port inMojave, California. The manufacturing facility was expected to employ "up to 170 people when production is in full swing."[9]
In July 2011, TSC announced it would begin production of "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" in the "Final Assembly, Integration and Test Hangar" (FAITH) in the fall of 2011.[5]
In September, 2011, TSC completed construction of the new plant, on schedule, forUS$8,000,000. The production of new spacecraft—initially three WhiteKnightTwo aircraft and five of the smaller SpaceShipTwo rocket planes—was planned to commence before the end of that month.[24][citation needed]
The FAITH hangar was intended to be used for building the one-piece composite spars and wing for WK2, fuselage lay-up for both WK2 and SS2, and "will also be used for major maintenance and will serve as the company’s operating headquarters."[25]
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