Virgin Galactic fuel

[Danzi]

Does anyone know how the Virgin Galactic ships are going to be powered, i am refering to the White Knight 2 and the actual capsual that will go into low earth orbit. Are they going to run on somthign such as petrol, or are they going to have similar systems to the British Skylon space plane idea, where it runs on hydrogen, which could either be filled up in a tank or extracted from the air during flight?

Thanks

 

[tampaDreamer]

It's a hybrid rocket motor.. solid rocket fuel and liquid oxygen I think. So I guess I'd say it's more like the space shuttle than it is like the british space plane idea. Also, they are not going to achieve the speed necessary for orbit, but they are going to achieve a similar height. Remember, orbit is not just a matter of getting up there, it's a matter of getting up to a speed where you circle the earth rather than fall toward it.

Oh.. sorry.. the white knight two will be a standard airplane, using jet fuel which i believe is like kerosene, a petrol product. The "capsule" which has a rocket engine on it will be fueled like I mentioned above.

 

[vogon13]

IIRC, the oxidizer is NO2.

Also, the vehicle does not orbit.

 

[docm]

SS1/SS2's SpaceDev engine is fueled by HTPB, a synthetic rubber, and the oxidizer is nitrous oxide (N20). The HTPB is cast as a cylinder with a specifically shaped hollow core (to optimize the thrust curve). N20 is sprayed into this cavity and the HTPB ignited. Varying the N20 flow allows the engine to be throttled and it can also be shut down/restarted.

Scaled was going to use an engine of their own construction for SS2, but after its accidental explosion during testing they went back to a SpaceDev engine.

 

[vulture4]

Yet another whatif - if the X-34 had not been canceled and Rutan had gotten some experience with the Fastrack engine maybe he would have stuck with liquid propulsion. It's hard to see how the hybrid can achieve comparable operational costs in a reusable spaceplane.