Aurora to Build New Motherships for Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic has entered into an agreement with Boeing subsidiary Aurora to build two new motherships for its commercial space business. Aurora Flight Sciences will partner in the design and manufacturing of the Company’s 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.
“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."
Virgin Galactic Chief Executive Officer Michael Colglazier.
Headquartered in Virginia, Aurora brings more than 30 years of experience building cutting-edge aircraft from concept to delivery and specializes in novel aircraft configurations and complex composites. Virgin Galactic has been working with Aurora for the past several months to develop design specifications as well as workforce and resource requirements in preparation for this long-term project. The two-vehicle contract announced today will enable Aurora to immediately begin development.
“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 Virgin Galactic Chief Executive Officer Michael Colglazier.
Aurora will build the two new motherships at its Columbus, Mississippi and Bridgeport, West Virginia facilities. Final assembly of the aircraft will be completed at the Virgin Galactic facility in Mojave, California.
“With Aurora, we are accessing the best of the nationwide aerospace ecosystem,” said Swami Iyer, President of Aerospace Systems. “As a subsidiary of the world’s largest aerospace company, Aurora has some of the industry’s top engineers and manufacturing facilities.”
“Boeing is excited to contribute our culture of safety, our operational excellence, and our expertise in aircraft design and manufacturing to help advance human space travel," said Todd Citron, Boeing Chief Technology Officer and Vice President and General Manager of Boeing Research & Technology.
The agreement follows a recent announcement by Virgin Orbit that it plans to acquire two Boeing 747 airframes for its satellite launch business.
(Image provided with Virgin Galactic news release)