Virgin Galactic completes a SpaceShipTwo suborbital test flight

by | May 24, 2021 | Commercial human spaceflight, History, Launches, Personal spaceflight, Seradata News, Space tourism, Suborbital, Virgin Galactic

At 1526 GMT on 22 May Virgin Galactic achieved its first successful suborbital crewed mission from Spaceport America, New Mexico. Following its release from the WhiteKnightTwo – VMS Eve – carrier aircraft the SpaceShipTwo vehicle – VSS Unity – completed a crewed sub-orbital flight before a safe landing back on Earth at 1543 GMT. The mission started at 1434 GMT with VMS Eve lifting-off from Spaceport America carrying the VSS Unity re-usable space vehicle.

During the mission the two pilots on-board, CJ Sturckow and Dave Mackay, reached an altitude of 89.2 km. Above the 80 km boundary that NASA uses to define the boundary of space (but not the 100 km used elsewhere). Also reportedly aboard this mission were several NASA Flight Opportunities payloads. This flight follows on from a previous attempt made in December last year when the mission was safely aborted after the SpaceShipTwo main engine shut-down shortly after ignition. Virgin Galactic worked on remedying the issue which was identified as “electromagnetic interference” generated by the flight computer system, ahead of this flight.

The SpaceShipTwo vehicle VSS Unity carrying its two pilots out of the atmosphere. Courtesy of Virgin Galactic via YouTube

 

Looking ahead Virgin Galactic hopes to conduct a further three test missions this year before it begins offering its planned commercial suborbital service in 2022. Reportedly after four employees fly on the next mission, the third flight this year will carry company founder Richard Branson.

About Seradata

Seradata produce the renowned Seradata database. Trusted by over 100 of the world’s leading Space organisations, Seradata is a fully queryable database used for market analysis, failure/risk assessment, spectrum analysis and space situational awareness (SSA).

For more information go to https://www.seradata.com/product/

Related Articles

Galactic Energy of China suffers first launch failure of its Ceres-1 rocket

Having apparently launched at 0459 GMT on the morning of 21 September news has only recently filtered out that the Read more

Starlink Group 6-17 is launched by Falcon 9

SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA at 0338 GMT on 20 September Read more

Electron KS rocket has another failure losing Acadia 2 radar Earth observation satellite

Rocket Lab launched Electron KS from Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand, at 0655 GMT on 19 September 2023. The Electron was Read more

China launches Long March 2D carrying Yaogan 39 trio

China successfully launched a Long March 2D/2 (CZ-2D/2) from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, Sichuan Province, China at 0312 GMT on Read more

SpaceX launches Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-16 aboard

SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA at 0338 GMT on 16 September Read more

Soyuz MS-24 is launched into orbit on Soyuz 2-1a from Baikonur on way to ISS

Soyuz MS-24 was launched via a Soyuz 2-1a rocket into orbit at 1544 GMT on 15 September 2023 from Baikonur Read more

Victus Nox payload is launched by Firefly Alpha in rapid response launch test

There was an unexpected launch of the Firefly Alpha rocket (its third flight) which took place from Vandenberg, California, at Read more

Film of ancient ‘alien bodies’ is displayed at Congress of Mexico hearing

Following on from similar US Congressional hearings on UFOs which appeared to have footage of flying UFOs, at a Mexican Read more

Chinese Long March 6A rocket carries new Yaogan 40 triplet to LEO

Launching at 0430 GMT on 10 September a Chinese Long March 6A (CZ-6A) rocket carried the Yaogan 40 mission into Read more

Categories

Archives

Tags

nasaspacexecoreviewsissesaArianespacevideochina25virgin galacticfalcon 9ULAFalcon 9v1.2FT Block 5RoscosmosevaDGAspacewalkaviation weekaressoyuzIGTInternational Space StationBeidouawardsspaceBlue OriginSatellite broadcastingRocket LabStarlinkrussiamoonCargo Return VehicleboeingAirbus DSmarsblogresearchISROOneWeborionspaceshiptwojaxaimpacthyperboladelaymarsdemocratrocketEutelsatobamagoogle lunar prizelunarhypertextlaunchVegaSEStourismbarack obamaconstellationfiguresnorthspaceflightthales alenia spacenode 2fundedRaymond LygoIntelsatLockheed Martin2009Express MD-2Atlas Vromess2Elon Muskdassault aviationaviationLucy2008wk2sstlukradiotestmissilesuborbitaldocking portexplorationAriane 5 ECAVirgin OrbitinternetChina Manned Space EngineeringAriane 5SLSsts-1222010flightspace tourismNorthrop Grummancotsnewspapermissile defensegalileospaceportExpress AMU 1Long March 2D/2Electronbuildspace stationaltairLong March 4Cinternational astronautical congresssoyuz 2-1ashuttleProton MEuropean Space AgencyLauncherOneCosmosIntelsat 23scaled compositeshanleybudgetrulesnew yorkAriane 6shenzhouspace shuttleatvVietnamcongressMojaveboldenLong March 2COrbital ATKnew shepardInmarsatGuiana Space CenteriaccnesksclawsSpace Systems/LoralUK Space AgencyLong March 4BILSUS Air Forceprotonlunar landerTalulah RileyApollodarpaFalcon 9v1.2 Block 5Kuaizhou 1AVega CSkylonAstriumeupicturebaseusaastronautdragonlanderfiveeventTelesatSSLElectron KSNorth KoreaAprilSNCWednesdayinterviewSea Launchfalcon50thcustomerlinkLong Marchatlantissuccessor