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pristine Galaxy launched its first spaceflight in nearly two years on Thursday, a key final test for the space tourism company before it begins flying commercial passengers.
“WE WERE FLYING INTO SPACE!” Virgin Galactic tweeted, adding about 11 minutes later that the spacecraft landed easily.
Still, Virgin Galactic shares fell about 8% on Thursday to shut at $4.05 a share.
Dubbed Unity 25, the mission represents the company’s fifth spaceflight up to now. It took off from Spaceport America, Latest Mexico, and marks a “final evaluation” flight, with six Virgin Galactic employees aboard for a brief trip to the edge of space.
Virgin Galactic didn’t publicly broadcast the flight live, unlike the previous one in July 2021, which was attended by founder Sir Richard Branson. As a substitute, the company provided updates on the progress of Unity 25 on social media as a third-party webcast followed the launch.
The VMS EVE aircraft carries the VSS Unity spacecraft during a flight test.
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The VMS Eve cargo plane took off around 11:15 a.m. EST, carrying the company’s VSS Unity spacecraft to an altitude of roughly 40,000 feet. VMS Eve launched its rocket-propelled vehicle shortly after noon EST for VSS Unity to fireside up its engine and ascend to greater than 80 kilometers (or about 262,000 feet) – an altitude the United States considers the limit of outer space. It will definitely reached an altitude of about 286,176 feet.
Often called suborbital, this kind of spaceflight gives passengers a couple of minutes of weightlessness, versus for much longer, tougher and costlier private orbital flights conducted by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Virgin Galactic previously said it intended to fly its first commercial mission “in late June”, assuming a successful test flight on Thursday.
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VSS Unity was piloted by Mike Masucci and CJ Sturckow of Virgin Galactic, while the aircraft carrier VMS Eve was piloted by Jameel Janjua and Nicola Pecile. The Unity team in the passenger cabin was accomplished by Chief Astronaut Instructor Beth Moses, Astronaut Instructor Luke Mays, Senior Technical Manager Christopher Huie, and Senior Manager of Internal Communications Jamila Gilbert.
“Latest Mexico, from outer space you’re much more charming,” Gilbert said, referring to the state’s motto, “Land of Enchantment.” “I flew into space just an hour from the street where I grew up. It’s hard to explain in words what it was like, but I’m sure I’ll spend the rest of my life trying. Not only honored to be one of the first 100 women and one of the 16 Hispanics and Latinos to enter space, I’m incredibly proud to represent a community from which a recent space age is flourishing.”
The important thing moment
Aerial view of the aircraft carrier VMS Eve (left) and the spacecraft VSS Unity at Spaceport America, Latest Mexico, February 27, 2023.
pristine Galaxy
Unity 25 represents a pivotal moment in the history of Virgin Galactic, which has suffered from repeated failures and years of delays in the development of its spaceflight system.
Branson’s 2021 spaceflight comes after nearly 17 years of work — and an investment of over $1 billion. Previously, spacecraft development had witnessed several disasters, including a rocket engine explosion on the ground in 2007 that killed three employees of Virgin Galactic contractor Scaled Composites, and the 2014 crash of SpaceShipTwo’s first vehicle, the VSS Enterprise, which killed Scaled co-pilot Michael Alsbury and injured pilot Peter Siebold during a test flight of a Virgin Galactic spacecraft.
Following Branson’s spaceflight, Virgin Galactic shut down operations for a longer-than-expected overhaul period while the company worked on its spacecraft and aircraft carrier, after federal investigation right into a mishap during his trip. The refurbishment process was alleged to take about eight to 10 months, but ended up taking almost 16 months.
Virgin Galactic shouldn’t be generating significant revenue yet and wishes to fly into space usually to achieve this. Although the company has nearly $900 million in money and securities, its quarterly money consumption continues to extend because it invests heavily in expanding its spacecraft fleet.
Furthermore, the company must launch its future Delta class to fly weekly, but these spacecraft are usually not expected to begin flying until 2026.
The VSS Unity can accommodate as much as six passengers together with two pilots. The corporate has 600 bookings for future flights, selling at prices starting from $200,000 to $250,000 each. It re-opened ticket sales in 2021 with prices starting at $450,000 per seat.
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