White Knight Prepares For New Mission

Posted on: May. 28th, 2005 || Source: space.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

The innovative carrier plane used to air launch SpaceShipOne has a new mission. At the Mojave, California inland spaceport, the White Knight mothership has been involved in fit and high-speed taxi checks with a new passenger – the X-37, an unpiloted, reusable spaceplane.

The White Knight/X-37 combination has undergone a set of recent ground evaluations, including high-speed taxi testing this week.

Designed by Scaled Composites of Mojave, California, the White Knight was utilized to haul SpaceShipOne to altitude and then released the piloted rocketplane for its record-setting suborbital treks, including the snagging of the high-stakes $10 million Ansari X Prize last year.

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