Spaceship Co. Breaks Ground on Assembly Hangar in California

The Spaceship Co. (TSC) recently broke ground for its new final assembly, integration and test hangar at Mojave Air & Space Port.

The new building, a 68,000-square-foot, clear-span, 737-sized hangar including offices, will serve as TSC's operating headquarters once complete. It will be used primarily for the final assembly, integration and testing of TSC's vehicles before they enter service, according to the company.

TSC is a new aerospace production company, founded by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Scaled Composites, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corp. TSC's mission is to build the fleet of SpaceShipTwos and WhiteKnightTwos for its customer, Virgin Galactic.

The new building in Mojave is sized to support the production of two WhiteKnightTwos and at least two SpaceShipTwos in parallel and has been designed to meet LEED standards, according to the company.

"[The] groundbreaking of TSC's new hangar is another significant milestone in developing Virgin Galactic's commercial spaceflight operations-following on from recent achievements including the maiden and second-glide flights of SpaceShipTwo and the dedication of Spaceport America's runway in New Mexico," said George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic and TSC.