03:46 pm - Thursday
Pratt & Whitney Canada joined Virgin Galactic to celebrate unveiling of SpaceshipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo models
Quebec, Canada - The industry's PW-308 turbofan is the engine selected to power WK-2
(WAPA) - "Pratt & Whitney Canada joins Virgin Galactic in New York City to unveil detailed scale models of the world’s first commercial passenger suborbital spaceship, SpaceShipTwo (SS-2), together with the launch aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo (WK-2). Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PW-308 turbofan is the engine selected to power WK-2.
The PW-308 engine was chosen for WK-2 by The Spaceship Company – a jointly owned Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites company. Virgin Galactic is the launch customer for the SS-2 system, having ordered five SS-2 spacecraft with options for a further seven-plus WK2 carrier aircraft.
Equipped with its PW-308 engines, the WK-2 launch aircraft, being developed by Scaled Composites, will take off like an airplane with the manned SS-2 attached underneath. It will launch SS-2 into suborbital space from about 50,000 feet. The first flight of WK-2 is planned for 2008.
Rated at 6,900 pounds of normal takeoff thrust and equipped with full-authority, digital engine control (FADEC), the PW-308 engine provides a combination of cruise thrust, fuel consumption and power-to-weight ratio considered best in its class. Also, as part of P&WC’s sustained efforts and commitment to lead green technology development, the company will team up with The Spaceship Company and Virgin Fuels to evaluate the use of advanced biofuels in WK2 that could reduce engine emissions even further and make aircraft more environmentally friendly". (Avionews)
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Direttore Clara Moschini