Virgin Galactic's new SpaceshipTwo completes first powered test flight since pilot death in 2014
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Loading... - Courtney Trump
- 06 Apr 2021
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Virgin Galactic has successfully completed a powered test flight of its new SpaceShipTwo craft that will power tourists in to space.
The new craft is called the VSS Unity and replaces the VSS Enterprise that crashed in 2014, killing co-pilot Michael Alsbury.
Richard Branson's company released video of the test flight, which showed the craft successfully separating from the carry vehicle and using its rocket thrusters to reach supersonic speed.
The craft successfully reached an altitude of 84,271 ft before returning to Earth.
The test took place in the Mojave desert at about 8 a.m. local time, The VMS Eve carrier plane took off from Mojave, California, carrying SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity before releasing it 46,500 feet (14,000 m) above ground, Virgin Galactic said in a statement.
A rocket motor then accelerated Unity to Mach 1.87 during a 30-second rocket burn before the ship's two pilots shut it down.
"Space feels tantalisingly close now," Branson Tweeted after the test flight.
Virgin Galactic's original SpaceShipTwo vehicle broke apart during an October 2014 test flight that killed the co-pilot and seriously injured the pilot, in an accident that was ultimately attributed to pilot error. Both were employees of Scaled Composites, a Northrop Grumman subsidiary based in Mojave that built the vehicle.
The Spaceship Company, a Virgin Galactic sister firm also owned by Branson's London-based Virgin Group, built the new SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity, the second in a planned fleet of five, and took over the test-flight program from Scaled.
In 2016, the space company was granted an operating license to fly its passenger ship with the world's first paying space tourists once final safety tests are completed.
The company has not yet announced a date for the start of passenger flights but is selling tickets for a ride aboard SpaceShipTwo at $250,000 a seat.
Rides will take passengers about 62 miles (100 km) above Earth, high enough to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of Earth set against the blackness of space.
Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard tweeted: "@virgingalactic back on track. Successful powered flight, Mach 1.6. Data review to come, then on to the next flight. Space feels tantalisingly close now."
The space tourism company said in a statement: "The flight has generated valuable data on flight, motor and vehicle performance which our engineers will be reviewing.
"It also marks a key moment for the test flight programme, entering now the exciting phase of powered flight and the expansion to full duration rocket burns.
"While we celebrate that achievement, the team remains focused on the challenging tasks which still lie ahead."
