Space News reports that Virgin Galactic’s carrier aircraft made its first flight in more than a year on Wednesday as the company looks to start commercial service. The VMS Eve left the Mojave Air and Space Port in California for a flight lasting more than two and a half hours before returning to the airport. This was the first flight for VMS Eve “since it flew to Mojave from Spaceport America in New Mexico in October 2021.” The company “performed an extensive overhaul of the plane while in Mojave, including replacing the center pylon where the SpaceShipTwo spaceplane is attached.”
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Tag: SpaceShipTwo
Virgin Galactic Ends Suborbital Space Plane Test Early
Reuters reported that Virgin Galactic “cut short a test flight of its suborbital SpaceShipTwo Unity plane on Saturday, safely returning its pilot to Spaceport American in New Mexico after the rocket motor’s ignition sequence failed to complete.” The test aimed to launch the Unity spacecraft “to an altitude as high as 50 miles to test its cabin experience and boosters in-flight.” The test was supposed “to gather crucial test data needed to advance its commercial spaceflight license with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration before flying customers for the first time next year.”
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Virgin Galactic Delays Test Flight Due to New Mexico’s COVID-19 Restrictions
Reuters reports, “Virgin Galactic has rescheduled a test flight planned from its New Mexico spaceport later this week after the U.S. state imposed fresh COVID-19 restrictions.” The flight was scheduled for November 19-23.
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Virgin Galactic to Open Window for Final Testing of SpaceShipTwo
The AP reports that “the window for the final round of testing of Virgin Galactic’s rocket-powered spacecraft opens later this week as the company inches toward commercial flights.” On Monday, in an update to New Mexico lawmakers, Virgin Galactic President Mike Moses “said the space tourism company already has done nine flights from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico, including two glide flights by the spaceship.” While “the exact date has yet to be determined, the upcoming test will mark the third space flight for Virgin Galactic and the first from New Mexico.” During the test, “two pilots will crew the spacecraft and cargo including several research projects will be carried in the cabin.” If the test is successful, Moses “said Virgin Galactic can then move to the next phase, which will involve company mission specialists and engineers being loaded into the passenger cabin” to “evaluate all the hardware, camera settings and which angles will provide the best views.”
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Aurora Flight Sciences to Build Spaceplane Launch Platform Aircraft for Virgin Galactic
Space News reports that Virgin Galactic announced Wednesday it signed an agreement with Aurora Flight Sciences “to build two new aircraft that will be used as launch platforms for its next-generation suborbital spaceplanes.” The carrier aircraft “will succeed the original WhiteKnightTwo aircraft.” Aurora “will manufacture components of the aircraft at its factories in Columbus, Mississippi, and Bridgeport, West Virginia. Final assembly of the planes will take place at Virgin’s production facility in Mojave, California.” Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said, “Our next-generation motherships are integral to scaling our operations. They will be faster to produce, easier to maintain and will allow us to fly substantially more missions each year.”
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