Virgin Galactic for the last time launched a spaceplane/Space News
On June 8, Virgin Galactic, the company of American billionaire Richard Branson, conducted the last commercial launch of the VSS Unity spaceplane with tourists on board. It will now be decommissioned.
On Saturday, Virgin Galactic completed the seventh suborbital commercial flight of VSS Unity and the 12th mission overall. This is written by Space News.
Astronaut-researcher Tuva Atasever and three private passengers – SpaceX engineer Andy Sadhwani, head of the construction firm Irving Pergament and investment manager Giorgio Manenti – participated in the Galactic 07 mission. Atasever managed to perform three experiments during the flight.
VSS Unity was lifted to an altitude of 16 km by a carrier aircraft from America Spaceport in southern New Mexico, after which it docked and continued independent flight on a normal suborbital trajectory to a height of 87.5 km above sea level.
The crew was in a state of weightlessness for 5-6 minutes, after which the spaceplane returned to the runway. The whole flight lasted about an hour.
Always look up #Galactic07 pic.twitter.com/S5mmu14I2z
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) June 9, 2024
Virgin Galactic previously announced plans to wind down VSS Unity and focus on completing work on the Delta spacecraft, which are larger and cheaper to operate. Tests are planned for the end of 2025, and the first commercial launch – for 2026.