Virgin Galactic was founded almost 20 years ago to give those with disposable income a chance to glimpse the edge of space, but it has yet to make it past the testing phase. After taking more than a year off from test flights, the company’s sub-orbital spaceplane carrier has taken to the skies again. This moves Virgin Galactic closer to making good on the tickets it has been selling for years.
Before the most recent test, VMS Eve had not flown since October 2021, when it flew from Spaceport America in New Mexico to the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. That came after the first fully seated flight for the VSS Unity spaceplane in the summer of 2021, which included owner Richard Branson and senior Virgin Galactic workers.
Virgin’s SpaceShipTwo spaceplane is designed to connect to the VMS carrier for lift-off and ascent. It docks to the central pylon on the vehicle’s underside, and VMS Eve underwent an extensive overhaul at Mojave that included replacing the pylon. The new test was a “functional check flight” to ensure modifications to the plane, including the new pylon, worked as expected. VMS Eve took off and flew unencumbered by SpaceShipTwo to an altitude of 12,650 meters (about 41,500 feet) before landing successfully back at the airport.
Virgin Spaceship Unity (VSS Unity) glides for the first time after being released from Virgin Mothership Eve (VMS Eve) over the Mojave Desert on Dec. 3, 2016.
The company has not announced plans for its next SpaceShipTwo flight, but we can assume there will be at least one without passengers before any of those tickets are redeemed. Virgin Galactic started selling tickets to partners and high-profile individuals about a decade ago, but general sales began almost exactly a year ago at $450,000 each. Virgin Galactic aims to have up to three monthly flights when it begins commercial operations this year. However, that could be delayed again, pending the outcome of the latest round of testing.
It’s no surprise Virgin Galactic is taking it slow. One of the company’s SpaceShipTwo vehicles suffered a catastrophic failure in 2014 that resulted in the death of a pilot. VSS Enterprise broke up while testing its new rocket engine when the co-pilot accidentally deployed the plane’s air braking system. The controls were later altered to make it impossible to deploy the “feathering” mechanism during rocket-powered flight. Investigators criticized the company for its design and training decisions, which led to the accident.
Unlike other space tourism opportunities, Virgin Galactic won’t take passengers into orbit. Instead, the SpaceShipTwo plane flies in a high ballistic trajectory, offering several minutes of weightlessness before returning to Earth. Branson’s decision to fly on VSS Unity in 2021 calmed worried investors and ticket holders, but there’s still no firm date for the beginning of commercial flights.
Now read:
- Virgin Galactic Reaches New Record Altitude in Latest Test Flight
- Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Reaches Space for the First Time
- Virgin Galactic’s new VSS Unity spacecraft completes test flight
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