Company celebrates as it completes what is likely the final test before commercial space tourism operations begin.Virgin Galactic has successfully carried out its first spaceflight in nearly two years, the company says, after an “enhancement period” to make safety upgrades to its fleet.
Thursday’s flight was the fifth time the space tourism company had brushed the boundary of space, and it has been billed as the final test before commercial operations can begin in late June with members of the Italian Air Force as the first paying customers.
“Touchdown, VSS Unity!” the company tweeted, referring to the name of the company’s spaceplane. “Our crew and spaceship are back on Earth after landing smoothly at Spaceport America, New Mexico.”
Six of the company’s employees, including two pilots, landed after the short up-and-down flight, which included a few minutes of weightlessness. It took about an hour for the mother ship to carry the spaceplane to an altitude of 13,500 metres (44,500 feet), where it was released and fired its rocket motor to make the final push.
Virgin Galactic employees make what is expected to be the company’s final test flight on May 25, 2023, before taking paying customers on brief trips to space [Virgin Galactic via AP]
It reached an altitude of 87km (54.2 miles) before gliding back down to the runway, according to the company.
The flight came nearly two years after founder Richard Branson beat fellow billionaire and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and rocket company Blue Origin into space. Bezos ended up flying nine days later from West Texas, and Blue Origin has since launched several passenger trips.
Virgin Galactic’s space programme has suffered yea …
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It reached an altitude of 87km (54.2 miles) before gliding back down to the runway, according to the company.
The flight came nearly two years after founder Richard Branson beat fellow billionaire and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and rocket company Blue Origin into space. Bezos ended up flying nine days later from West Texas, and Blue Origin has since launched several passenger trips.
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