Scaled Composites White Knight Two

Scaled Composites · United States · first flew 2008 · transport aircraft

White Knight Two (VMS Eve) is a twin-fuselage high-altitude carrier aircraft built by Scaled Composites to air-launch Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane. It is the largest all-carbon-composite aviation vehicle built when introduced.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Mid-mounted, straight
E — Engines	4 × rocket, wing-mounted
F — Fuselage	Twin-fuselage mothership for air-launching SpaceShipTwo
T — Tail	Twin fin

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Twin-fuselage mothership for air-launching SpaceShipTwo
Four turbofan engines on a single high-aspect-ratio wing
Twin-boom twin-tail configuration with central payload pylon

Unmistakable twin-fuselage layout with a single very long straight wing connecting them; four turbofan engines hang under the wing, and SpaceShipTwo mounts between the two fuselages.

Specifications

The Scaled Composites White Knight Two has a length of 24 m (79 ft).
It has a wingspan of 43 m (141 ft).
Typical crew: 2.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

First flown in December 2008, White Knight Two was developed under a contract with Virgin Galactic as the carrier aircraft for the SpaceShipTwo commercial spaceflight programme. The aircraft conducts captive-carry flights and releases SpaceShipTwo at approximately 15,000 m altitude for rocket-powered ascent.

Variants

A single aircraft, VMS Eve (named after Richard Branson's mother), has been built. It serves as the sole operational carrier platform for the SpaceShipTwo fleet.

Where you'll see it

VMS Eve operates from Mojave Air and Space Port, California, and Spaceport America, New Mexico, supporting Virgin Galactic's commercial spaceflight operations.

Related aircraft

AircraftIQ — the aircraft field guide: 4,893 recognition guides, live overhead identification, works offline.