Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Nitrous Engine Test Firing in Mojave

A SpaceShipTwo engine test conducted at the Mojave Air and Space Port on Thursday, Jan. 16. Scaled Composites conducted this test of a nitrous oxide/nylon engine to power Sir Richard Branson's suborbital space plane, which is scheduled to begin operations later this year.

The nitrous oxide/nylon engine is being tested as an alternative to the nitrous oxide/rubber engine that SpaceShipTwo has used for three powered flights of 16, 20 and 20 seconds apiece.

The video is shot from long distance, so details are not as clear as I would have liked. I also missed the beginning of the burn, so the test was longer than is shown in the video.

You can find more details about this test and Virgin Galactic's space tourism program at http://www.parabolicarc.com. Parabolic Arc is your daily source for all space news from Mojave and around the world. Follow us on Twitter at   / spacecom   and on Facebook at   / 20702746759