SpaceshipOne:
- Year: Developed in the early 2000s.
- SpaceshipOne was the first privately developed manned spacecraft to reach space. It was designed by Scaled Composites, led by aerospace engineer Burt Rutan, and funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. SpaceshipOne made history by winning the Ansari X Prize in 2004, awarded for achieving two successful suborbital spaceflights within a two-week period. It utilized a unique hybrid rocket motor and a feathering re-entry system.
SpaceshipTwo:
- Year: Development began in the mid-2000s.
- SpaceshipTwo is Virgin Galactic's suborbital spaceplane designed to carry space tourists on brief journeys to the edge of space. There have been two iterations of SpaceshipTwo: VSS Enterprise and VSS Unity.
- VSS Enterprise:
- Year: Developed in the late 2000s.
- VSS Enterprise was the first SpaceShipTwo vehicle developed by Virgin Galactic. It was named in homage to the Star Trek spacecraft. Unfortunately, VSS Enterprise was lost during a test flight accident in 2014, resulting in the death of one pilot and serious injuries to another.
- VSS Unity:
- Year: Developed in the 2010s.
- Following the loss of VSS Enterprise, Virgin Galactic developed VSS Unity as the second iteration of SpaceShipTwo. It features design improvements and safety enhancements based on the lessons learned from the VSS Enterprise program. VSS Unity has successfully conducted crewed spaceflights to the edge of space as part of Virgin Galactic's commercial space tourism program.
- VSS Enterprise:
VMS Eve (WhiteKnightTwo):
- Year: Developed in the late 2000s.
- VMS Eve is a carrier aircraft designed to lift SpaceShipTwo to launch altitude. It serves as the launch platform for Virgin Galactic's suborbital space tourism flights. VMS Eve is a large, twin-fuselage aircraft developed by Scaled Composites. It is named after Richard Branson's mother, Eve.
VSS Unity:
- Year: Development began in the 2010s.
- VSS Unity is Virgin Galactic's second iteration of SpaceShipTwo, as mentioned earlier. It is the operational spacecraft used for commercial suborbital space tourism flights, carrying passengers to the edge of space and back. VSS Unity has undergone an extensive testing and flight test program to validate its systems and performance, leading to successful crewed spaceflights.
