Why do traditional spacecraft need booster rockets to break out of earth’s gravity while the Virgin space plane not?

Question

A spacecraft that takes off on a runway, with rocket engines that do not require external oxygen, seems like a safer approach to get off the ground than being strapped to a controlled explosion.

In: Physics

Answer 1

Virgin space plane accelerates to Mach 3, orbital speeds are closer to Mach 30. There’s a reason they only spent 5 or so minutes in space… they were on a short hop, not in orbit