Virgin Galactic Aces Crucial Test Flight, Paves Way for Space Tourism Launch

Virgin Galactic has just completed its last test flight before offering space trips to paying customers. The company sees this as a huge achievement after struggling for a long time to reach the point of commercial operation.

Six workers from the company, two of whom were pilots, arrived at Spaceport America in the south of New Mexico after a brief flight that involved a few moments of zero gravity, as reported by APNews.

The process involved the mother ship transporting the spaceplane to a height of 44,500 feet (13,563 meters), where it was then released and used its rocket engine to complete the final stage of the flight. This procedure took approximately an hour to complete.

The company reported that its spacecraft flew up to a height of 54.2 miles (87 kilometers) before returning to the runway.

An Incredible Experience

Jamila Gilbert, who is in charge of the company's internal communication and grew up in southern New Mexico, was one of the passengers evaluating the customer experience.

She found it difficult to express her experience in words, noting that it may take her entire life to fully comprehend the emotions and visuals that occurred during the time between the ignition of the rocket and the spaceship's peak altitude.

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Lindsay Eyink from San Francisco, CA, USA) Virgin Galactic hangar at Mojave Airport

After Richard Branson defeated Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin in space by a margin of almost two years, his flight finally took place. Bezos eventually flew from West Texas nine days later, and Blue Origin has since conducted numerous passenger trips.

Following Branson's flight, federal aviation authorities prohibited Virgin Galactic launches to examine a mishap.

Brief Space Trips

For over ten years, Virgin Galactic has been striving to transport people on brief space trips for a fee. Recently, the company has been granted permission from the government to do so in 2021.

Now, Virgin Galactic will have to assess information from the recent flight and assess the condition of the aircraft and other gear. This is all in preparation for launching commercial operations, which may begin as early as the end of June.

The CEO of Virgin Galactic, Michael Colglazier, has admitted that there have been delays and deadlines that have been missed in the past. However, he expressed confidence in the company's achievements by stating that witnessing the crew's reactions after landing was reassuring.

The First Commercial Flight

The first commercial flight will involve Italian Air Force personnel performing scientific experiments. After that, individuals who bought tickets many years ago will get the chance to experience weightlessness on a winged spacecraft that takes off from an airplane's belly.

In the last ten years, roughly 800 tickets were purchased. The first group of tickets was sold at $200,000 each, but presently, the cost has increased to $450,000 per individual.

Virgin Galactic has successfully achieved space travel on five separate occasions since 2018. They have future plans to produce a new fleet of rocket-powered planes at a facility in Arizona, which will allow them to increase their number of flights from Spaceport America to 400 per year.

Following Branson's journey, the Federal Aviation Administration halted flights to investigate an issue that caused the rocket ship to deviate from its path during its return to the New Mexico desert runway. Virgin Galactic affirmed that Branson and the other passengers were never at risk.

The company modified its carrier aircraft and spaceplane, which took longer than anticipated due to supply chain difficulties and a shortage of labor. Branson was present among a group of clients who witnessed the flight from Spaceport America on Thursday.

Huie, a high-ranking member of the Virgin Galactic flight sciences engineering team, announced that the company is fully prepared to begin offering commercial space travel. They plan to increase the number of vehicles in their fleet in the upcoming years. The ultimate objective is to have numerous spaceships and motherships stationed at various spaceports, enabling them to send hundreds of individuals to space annually.