Virgin Galactic

[wjfox]

A thread for Branson's space company.

Major test flight happening right now:

[raklian]

Back to Earth safely! This is the beginning of a new era of spaceflight!

[raklian]

[raklian]

[raklian]

[raklian]

Yikes!

[raklian]

[raklian]

Here's the video showing the weightlessness and viewing of the Earth via the windows the crew experienced.

[wjfox]

Virgin Galactic may sell $500m of shares after space success

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57810029

[weatheriscool]

SpaceShipTwo makes first flight in nearly two years
Jeff Foust April 26, 2023
https://spacenews.com/spaceshiptwo-make ... two-years/

WASHINGTON — Virgin Galactic’s suborbital spaceplane flew freely for the first time in nearly two years April 26 on a glide flight that prepares the company for powered flights and commercial service.

The company’s SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle, VSS Unity, was carried aloft by the VMS Eve mothership aircraft flying out of Spaceport America in New Mexico. Unity released from the plane at 9:47 a.m. Eastern at an altitude of 14,300 meters and glided to a runway landing back at the spaceport nine minutes later.

Virgin Galactic pilots CJ Sturckow and Nicola Pecile were at the controls of VSS Unity during the test flight, while company pilots Kelly Latimer and Jameel Janjua were flying VMS Eve.

[weatheriscool]

Virgin Galactic's Thursday spaceflight "is a go" from New Mexico
KRQE NEWS

Virgin Galactic is just hours away from sending another crew of astronauts to suborbital space over New Mexico. The space tourism company’s window for its second fully-crewed spaceflight is slated to open tomorrow on Thursday, May 25.

In a statement Wednesday, the company says the spaceflight “is a go” with Unity 25 scheduled to take off around 8 a.m. MDT. Its been nearly two years since Virgin Galactic has sent its own astronauts into weightlessness. In 2021, the company celebrated its first successful fully crewed flight with company’s founder Sir Richard Branson on board.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/space-news/vi ... -thursday/

[weatheriscool]

Virgin Galactic blasts into space after two-year hiatus
By David Szondy
May 25, 2023
https://newatlas.com/space/virgin-galactic-space/

After Virgin Orbit vanished in bankruptcy court, Virgin Galactic announced its first spaceflight in two years as the Unity 25 mission rocketed to an altitude of 54.2 miles (87.2 km) on May 25, 2023 in the skies over Spaceport America, New Mexico.

The flight of VSS Unity took off at 9:15 am MT slung beneath the mothership VSS Eve. With C J Sturckow and Dave Mackay at the controls and four mission specialists and astronaut instructors aboard, the spaceplane was released at 44,500 ft (13,500 m) and ignited its hybrid liquid/solid engine, propelling it on a suborbital trajectory to the edge of space, reaching a top speed of Mach 2.94.

Along with its passengers, Unity carried its first four human-tended NASA payloads during its 92-minute flight. According to Virgin Galactic, the primary objectives of the flight were to evaluate astronaut training and the flight experience as well as making the final assessment of VSS Unity and VSS Eve before paying passenger flights begin in June.

"The Unity 25 mission was a fantastic achievement for everyone at Virgin Galactic," said Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier. "Witnessing our inspiring crew's pure joy upon landing, I have complete confidence in the unique astronaut experience we have built for our customers. Our teams now begin post-flight analysis as well as preparation for 'Galactic 01,' our commercial research mission planned for late June."

[weatheriscool]

Virgin Galactic sets late June date for first commercial SpaceShipTwo flight
Jeff Foust June 15, 2023
https://spacenews.com/virgin-galactic-s ... wo-flight/
SpaceShipTwo on Unity 25 flight

WASHINGTON — Virgin Galactic announced June 15 that it plans to conduct the first commercial flight of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle in late June on a mission for the Italian Air Force.

Virgin said its “Galactic 01” mission will take place between June 27 and June 30 from Spaceport America in New Mexico. That will carry three people from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy under a contract Virgin Galactic signed with the Italian Air Force in 2019. The three will conduct microgravity research on the flight.

That will be followed by Galactic 02 in early August. It will be the first to carry individuals who signed up for space tourism flights with the company, paying up to $450,000 per seat. Virgin Galactic says it will conduct SpaceShipTwo flights on a monthly basis thereafter.

[weatheriscool]

Virgin Galactic completes first commercial SpaceShipTwo suborbital flight
Jeff Foust June 29, 2023

SPACEPORT AMERICA, N.M. — After nearly two decades of development, Virgin Galactic conducted its first commercial SpaceShipTwo suborbital flight June 29.

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo vehicle VSS Unity, separated from its VMS Eve mothership aircraft at about 11:29 a.m. Eastern above cloudy skies in southern New Mexico. The vehicles took off from Spaceport America at 10:30 a.m. Eastern.

Unity, flying a mission designated Galactic 01, fired its hybrid rocket motor for approximately 60 seconds. It reached a peak altitude of 85. 1 kilometers before gliding to a runway landing at the spaceport at 11:43 a.m. Eastern.

The Galactic 01 mission was a research flight for the Italian Air Force and Italy’s National Research Council. Virgin Galactic and the Italian Air Force signed the contract for the flight in October 2019, agreeing to fly three Italian payload specialists on a dedicated research flight.

https://spacenews.com/virgin-galactic-c ... al-flight/

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

Virgin Galactic Launches Its First Space Tourists
The three passengers on Galactic 02 are the first regular people to ride Richard Branson's space plane.
By Ryan Whitwam August 10, 2023
https://www.extremetech.com/science/vir ... e-tourists

Both SpaceX and Blue Origin have dabbled in space tourism, launching a handful of paying customers into space aboard their rockets. Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic has been promising a different kind of space tourism for almost 20 years, and it's finally made good. The company's VSS Unity spacecraft just carried its first crew of space tourists on Galactic 02, its second commercial launch.

Unlike the rest of the burgeoning space tourism industry, Virgin Galactic uses a rocket-powered plane instead of a rocket. Galactic 02 started like all of the company's non-commercial flights. The VSS Unity space plane was mounted to the VMS Eve carrier, which first flew in 2008.

Even carried Unity to an altitude of 44,300 feet, at which time the space plane detached and used its rocket motor to shoot upward to its maximum altitude of 55 miles (88 kilometers). That's just below the Kármán Line, an informal division between the atmosphere and space at 62 miles (100 kilometers). VSS Unity does not enter low-Earth orbit, but its long parabolic trajectory does give passengers several minutes of weightlessness. The total flight time was about one hour, after which VSS Unity safely landed at Virgin's New Mexico airstrip. Whether this counts as going to space is up for debate.

[weatheriscool]

[Time_Traveller]

Time to bump this thread

Virgin Galactic investigating dropped pin on most recent suborbital flight

February 5, 2024



WASHINGTON — Virgin Galactic said Feb. 5 it is investigating why a pin fell from the aircraft used by its VSS Unity suborbital spaceplane on its most recent flight last month, adding that the incident did not pose a safety risk to those on board.

The company said in a statement that it notified the Federal Aviation Administration Jan. 31 of the incident, which took place during its Galactic 06 suborbital flight Jan. 26 from Spaceport America in New Mexico. The company said it is reviewing the incident in conjunction with the FAA.

Virgin Galactic said the alignment pin fell from its VMS Eve mothership aircraft, the plane that carries VSS Unity aloft. The pin is used to ensure Unity is aligned to Eve when mated during preflight preparations. After takeoff, the pin helps transfer drag loads from Unity into the pylon and center wing section of the aircraft.

The alignment pin detached after Unity separated from Eve, although the company did not state how long afterwards the pin came off. The pin, along with a separate shear pin fitting assembly, do not play a role in flight activities after the release of the spaceplane.

“Galactic 06 was a safe and successful flight that was conducted in accordance with Virgin Galactic’s rigorous flight procedures and protocols. At no time did the detached alignment pin pose a safety impact to the vehicles or the crew on board,” the company said in a statement.

https://spacenews.com/virgin-galactic-i ... al-flight/

[weatheriscool]

[Time_Traveller]

Virgin Galactic outlines economics of its future spaceplanes

August 8, 2024



LOGAN, Utah — Virgin Galactic is making the case to the financial community that its new line of suborbital spaceplanes can boost the company towards profitability.

The company used an Aug. 7 earnings call less to discuss the company’s second quarter financial results than to lay out its financial models for how the new Delta-class vehicles, currently scheduled to enter commercial service in 2026, will dramatically alter the company’s bottom line.

“There are lots of opinions about Virgin Galactic’s business model shared on various social channels and platforms. We find many of those opinions are missing key pieces of information,” said Michael Colglazier, chief executive of Virgin Galactic, on the call.

With a video and presentation, he and Doug Ahrens, chief financial officer, outlined the economics of flying multiple Delta-class vehicles, starting at Spaceport America in New Mexico. “After an initial ramp-up period following the launch of our first two Delta-class spaceships, we expect to have capacity to deliver approximately 125 spaceflights per year,” Ahrens said.

With each vehicle carrying six customers, the company projects flying 750 people a year at an average ticket price of $600,000, resulting in annual revenue of $450 million. After accounting for the costs of the flights and other company expenses, Virgin Galactic estimates it can generate adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $95 million to $110 million a year.

https://spacenews.com/virgin-galactic-o ... aceplanes/