Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Flies for First Time in Nearly 2 Years

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity flew for the first time since July 2021 on Wednesday as the suborbital tourism vehicle made a glide flight test at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

CJ Sturckow and Nicola Pecile piloted VSS Unity to a landing after a glide flight that lasted 9 minutes. The WhiteKnightTwo VMS Eve carrier aircraft dropped the spaceplane over the New Mexico desert from an altitude of 47,000 ft (14,326 meters).

The flight tested modifications to both vehicles to prepare them for commercial flights expected to begin by the end of June.

“Releasing Unity for a glide flight today is one of the final steps towards commercial spaceline operations. The ability to conduct glide flights – allowing us to gain critical performance metrics without the need for rocketpower – is one of the benefits of our distinctive flight system. The data from this validation flight will clear the way for our return to space and, ultimately, lead to the launch of commercial service,” said Mike Moses, president of Spaceline Missions and Safety.

A powered suborbital flight test with four Virgin Galactic employees in VSS Unity’s passenger cabin is the next scheduled flight. The employees will evaluate the passenger experience and pre-flight training regime.

It will be the final flight test in a program that stretches back more than 14 years. The VMS Eve mothership first flew on December 21, 2008. The first SpaceShipTwo, VSS Enterprise, had its first glide flight on October 10, 2010, and its maiden powered flight on April 29, 2013. The rocket-powered spaceplane was destroyed during a flight test on October 31, 2014.

Following the flight test, VSS Unity will carry two Italian Air Force officers and an Italian researcher on its first commercial flight. Chief Astronaut Trainer Beth Moses will join the trio on the flight.

Virgin Galactic will then begin flying the first of around 800 ticket holders. VSS Unity has four passenger seats and is expected to fly once per month.

Virgin Galactic began selling tickets for $200,000 in 2005. The company raised the price to $250,000 in 2013. More recent ticket buyers have paid $450,000 per seat.

VSS Unity’s most recent flight was when it flew Virgin Galactic Founder Richard Branson and three employees in the passenger cabin on July 11, 2021. They evaluated the passenger experience and pre-flight training.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) subsequently grounded the vehicle because the spaceplane had flown outside its assigned airspace during the flight. The company did not tell the FAA about the deviation and publicly claimed the test had gone off without a hitch.

VSS Unity and VSS Eve were taken out of service for modifications and upgrades that the company originally anticipated would take about four months. The overhaul of the aging VSS Eve mothership included replacement of the pylon that holds SpaceShipTwo and stretched on for more than a year.