Monday, September 19, 2011

The Spaceship Company Opens $8M Assembly Facility In Mojave

Mojave-based The Spaceship Company, a joint venture of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites, announced that it has opened up a new final assembly, integration, and test hangar in Mojava, to suport final production of Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo space vehicles. The firm said it has invested $8M in a new, energy efficient hangar, which was unveiled at a grand opening today in Mojave. The company said the 68,000 square foot vehicle will be used for testing and assembling vehicles, as well as for return-to-base vehicle maintenance. Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites have been commercializing the technology developed for SpaceShipOne, the first privately funded, commercial spacecraft to reach orbit and score the Ansari X Prize. The new vehicles are now being applied to providing regular, suborbital tourism.

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