British Government to Launch Satellites Into Orbit on the Back of Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo

Looks like the WhiteKnightTwo won’t be all play after all, as the British government wants to use Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft to send some state satellites into low orbit.

According to Flight Global, The Government wants to develop a rocket, dubbed “LauncherOne,” to sit on the back of WhiteKnightTwo and when the craft reaches the proper altitude, launch off on its own to begin orbit. The microsatellites would be under 200kg in weight, though it’s unclear exactly what the satellites will do. But with all these add-ons, WhiteKnightTwo is starting to remind me of The Centurions or something. [Flight Global via The Register]