Virgin Galactic
American spaceflight company
Virgin Galactic is a spaceflight company founded by the English billionaire Richard Branson in 2004.
![](http://up.wiki.x.io/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/SS2_and_VMS_Eve.jpg/220px-SS2_and_VMS_Eve.jpg)
![](http://up.wiki.x.io/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/WhiteKnight_Two_flying.jpg/220px-WhiteKnight_Two_flying.jpg)
![](http://up.wiki.x.io/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/White_Knight_Two_and_SpaceShipTwo_from_directly_below.jpg/220px-White_Knight_Two_and_SpaceShipTwo_from_directly_below.jpg)
Its rocket plane Unity, was retired in 2024.
Flights
change- In May 2021 one of the company's spaceplanes took people into space.[1][2]
- On 11 July 2021, Richard Branson and three employees were passengers on a flight, up to an altitude of 86 km (53 mi); the flight had two pilots.[3] However, the rocket plane Unity flew outside restricted airspace;[4][5] That happened for 1 minute and 41 seconds. The Federal Aviation Administration allowed [any] SpaceShipTwo rocket plane to fly again [from] September 2021, after deciding to expand (or make larger) the restricted airspace around the vehicle's flight range.[6]
- In May 2023, the company's fifth spaceflight happened.
- In June 2023, the rocket plane Unity was in space for 13:50 minutes. It came to a distance from Earth of 85 km (≈52 mi), and top speed was Mach 2.88. Galactic 01 is the name of the flight.
- In August 2023, the rocket plane Unity was in space. It came to a distance from Earth of 88 km (≈55 mi). Galactic 02 is the name of the flight. Six people were onboard: the chief, the pilot, 3 tourists and an instructor for those space tourists.[7]
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The spaceplane Unity is rocket-powered. It is a SpaceShipTwo type spaceplane. In 2021, it came to an altitude of 86 km (≈53 mi), with people inside.[3]
Newer kind of spaceplanes
change- a SpaceShip III (SS3 or SS III) was shown in March 2021, but the first one - the VSS Imagine - has not flown [as of 2024].[8]
Gallery
changeWebsite
changeRelated pages
changeReferences
change- ↑ "Virgin Galactic rocket plane flies to edge of space". BBC News. 2021-05-22. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
- ↑ "Virgin Galactic провела первый запуск своего космического корабля с людьми на борту". AIN.UA (in Russian). 2021-05-24. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Howell, Elizabeth (10 July 2021). "Meet the crew launching on Virgin Galactic's 1st fully crewed flight Unity 22". Space.com. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
- ↑ Shepardson, David (2 September 2021). "U.S. Aviation agency probes Branson's Virgin Galactic flight deviation". Reuters.
- ↑ Shepardson, David (2021-09-02). "U.S. bars Virgin Galactic rocket plane flights pending mishap probe". Reuters.
- ↑ Foust, Jeff (2021-09-29). "FAA clears Virgin Galactic to resume SpaceShipTwo flights".
- ↑ https://www.space.com/virgin-galactic-galactic02-launch-time. Retrieved 2023-08-10
- ↑ "Virgin Galactic Unveils VSS Imagine, The First SpaceShip III In It's Growing Fleet". 30 March 2021. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ↑ Natalie Clarkson (7 July 2022). "Virgin Galactic announces Boeing's Aurora will build new motherships". Virgin Galactic. Virgin Group.
- ↑ Sheetz, Michael. "Virgin Galactic unveils ‘VSS Imagine,’ the first of its next-generation spaceship series", CNBC, March 2021. (retrieved 21 July 2022)