MOJAVE, Calif. The Spaceship Company (TSC), the joint venture of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites, today received a $290,206 incentive check for completing the Savings By Design energy efficiency program with the design of its Final Assembly, Integration and Test Hangar, or FAITH, at the Mojave Air and Space Port.

The California-based energy program, offered by Southern California Edison, provides building owners and design teams a range of services including design assistance, Design Team Incentives, Owners Incentives and Energy Design Resources. To encourage owners to invest in energy efficiency, the program incentivizes the construction of new buildings that exceed California’s Title 24 Energy Efficiency Standards by at least 10 percent, based on a whole-building performance analysis. The maximum incentive per project is $500,000.

“The Spaceship Company was founded with the intention of making access to space both reliable and affordable,” said Enrico Palermo, The Spaceship Company Vice President, Operations. “FAITH’s energy-saving design reflects our company’s passion to develop innovative solutions not only for our vehicles and services, but our operating facilities, too.”

FAITH, a 68,000-square-foot facility used primarily for the final assembly, integration and testing of TSC vehicles, exceeds Title 24 requirements by 55 percent. By utilizing energy-efficient solutions, TSC earned a Savings By Design base incentive of $263,824 and an additional 10% incentive of $26,382 for LEED Certification. The project’s Design Team also earned the maximum incentive of $50,000 for working to ensure the design exceeds Title 24. The company will save an annual 701,779 kWh of electricity, primarily due to the efficient design of the Heat Recovery Variable Refrigerant Flow Heat Pump System. The lighting system, skylights and reflective flooring also contribute to the overall efficiency of the building.

“FAITH’s energy efficient design demonstrates Virgin Galactic’s continued investment in sustainable building designs. We employ innovative and sustainable practices in the design or commissioning of many of our facilities, such as TSC’s existing fabrication and sub-assembly facility in Mojave, the Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space terminal at Spaceport America in New Mexico and the new Virgin Galactic office in Las Cruces, New Mexico,” said George Whitesides President and CEO of Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company.

FAITH was designed by Bakersfield, Calif.-based Wallace & Smith General Contractors. Frank Cantelmi Mechanical also provided computer simulation and analysis, plumbing, and electrical and mechanical design.

About The Spaceship Company

Headquartered at Mojave Air and Space Port, The Spaceship Company is the aerospace production company, founded by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites, which is building the world’s first fleet of commercial spaceships (SpaceShipTwos) and carrier aircraft (WhiteKnightTwos) intended to make regular, commercial, manned space travel a reality.

About Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic, owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Aabar Investments PJS, is on track to be the world’s first commercial spaceline. The new spaceship (SpaceshipTwo, VSS Enterprise) and carrier aircraft (WhiteKnightTwo, VMS Eve) have both been developed for Virgin Galactic by Mojave-based Scaled Composites. Founded by Burt Rutan, Scaled developed SpaceShipOne, which in 2004 claimed the $10m Ansari X Prize as the world’s first privately developed manned spacecraft. Virgin Galactic’s new vehicles share much of the same basic design, but are being built to carry six customers on sub-orbital space flights, allowing an out-of-the-seat, zero-gravity experience and offering astounding views of the planet from the black sky of space. The VSS Enterprise and VMS Eve test flight program is well under way, leading to Virgin Galactic commercial operations, which will be based at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

About Scaled Composites

Founded in 1982, Scaled Composites specializes in the design, fabrication and flight testing of prototype aircraft and spacecraft from composite materials. Scaled is a project-oriented company that offers services within a concept-to-completion environment. Our services include conceptual design, aerodynamic and structural analysis and design, tooling, fabrication, structural testing, flight testing and simulation.

RELEVANT LINKS

– The Spaceship Company: http://www.thespaceshipcompany.com
– Virgin Galactic: http://www.virgingalactic.com
– Scaled Composites: http://www.scaled.com
– Savings By Design: http://www.savingsbydesign.com/savings-design-program-overview
– Southern California Edison: http://www.sce.com/b-rs/bb/savings-by-design.htm
– Title 24 Energy Efficiency Standards: http://www.energy.ca.gov/title24/
– TSC Design Team: http://www.savingsbydesign.com/design-team

# # #

MEDIA CONTACTS
Sean Elizabeth Wilson
Griffin Communications Group
(281) 335-0200 – office
(832) 453-9464 – cell
Sean@GriffinCG.com