WhiteKnightTwo Carrier aircraft
42.7m wingspan
Four Pratt and Whitney P308 engines
Hybrid rocket system
SpaceShipTwo
3
Spaceship climbs to 70 miles. Passengers experience weightlessness
2
Engines propel SpaceShipTwo into a near-vertical climb at close to Mach 3.5
4
Wings pivot forward to a ‘feathered’
re-entry configuration
1
Carrier aircraft climbs to 9 miles (15km) before releasing SpaceShipTwo
5
At 9 miles the wings de-feather for the glide home
WhiteKnightTwo Carrier aircraft
3
Spaceship climbs to 70 miles. Passengers experience weightlessness
42.7m wingspan
Four Pratt and Whitney P308 engines
2
Engines propel SpaceShipTwo into a near-vertical climb at close to Mach 3.5
Hybrid rocket system
SpaceShipTwo
4
Wings pivot forward to a ‘feathered’ re-entry configuration
1
Carrier aircraft climbs to 9 miles (15km) before releasing SpaceShipTwo
5
At 9 miles the wings de-feather for the glide home