Aurora to build new motherships for Virgin Galactic spaceflights

San Francisco: Billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic partnered with Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing company, to design and manufacture its next-generation motherships.

The mothership is the air launch carrier aircraft in Virgin Galactic’s space flight system, that carries the spaceship to its release altitude of approximately 50,000 feet.

The two new motherships are expected to support 400 flights per year and the first is expected to enter service in 2025.

“Our next generation motherships are integral to scaling our operations. They will be faster to produce, easier to maintain and will allow us to fly substantially more missions each year. Supported by the scale and strength of Boeing, Aurora is the ideal manufacturing partner for us as we build our fleet to support 400 flights per year at Spaceport America,” said Michael Colglazier, Chief Executive Officer at Virgin Galactic, in a statement.

Aurora plans to manufacture the aircraft at its Columbus, Mississippi and Bridgeport, West Virginia facilities.

Final assembly of the motherships will be completed at the Virgin Galactic facility in Mojave, California.

The first customers to make reservations paid $200,000 (AED734,620) to $250,000 (AED918,275), Colglazier said in the May call. At the time of the call, he said, Virgin Galactic was taking reservations for $450,000 (AED1m). Virgin Galactic partner Aurora Virgin Galactic partner Aurora
About Aurora

Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing Company, advances the future of flight by developing and applying innovations across aircraft configurations, autonomous systems, propulsion technologies, and manufacturing processes. With a passionate and agile team, Aurora delivers solutions to its customers’ toughest challenges while meeting high standards of safety and quality.

Source: Agencies