$450,000 Ticket: Virgin Galactic to Finally Conduct Its First Commercial Spaceflight [ONLINE]
Today, space tourism company Virgin Galactic is set to launch its first commercial spaceflight, with the Italian Air Force as its client, according to the company's website. This is a significant milestone for the company, albeit with significant delays.
Previously, the four crew members paid $200,000 each for a launch aboard Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity. Since then, the price has increased to $450,000 per seat.
The mission, named "Galactic 01," will be Virgin Galactic's inaugural commercial flight.
It will take off at 11 a.m. Eastern Time from New Mexico, USA (9 a.m. MDT | 11 a.m. EDT). In Kyiv, it will be 6 p.m.
The spaceplane will be attached to the underbelly of a twin-fuselage carrier, which will climb to an altitude of 44,500 feet and release the spaceplane.
Then, the VSS Unity will ignite its rocket engine and ascend to at least 250,000 feet above Earth, the recognized boundary of space.
At its highest point, it will deploy its unique feathered tail section to assume the proper nose-down position for re-entry.
The flight is touted as a scientific mission, with several experiments to be conducted on board, including studies on fluid behavior in microgravity and passenger body reactions, among others.
The proposed journey will provide approximately ten minutes of weightlessness.
Four passengers will board the spacecraft, including two senior officers from the Italian Air Force, an engineer from the Italian National Research Council (CNR), and a accompanying Virgin Galactic staff member. Two pilots will be at the controls.
Sir Richard Branson himself undertook this brief space voyage in July 2021, nearly two years ago. At that time, the US Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded the space vehicle to investigate deviations from course during the high-profile flight.
Virgin Galactic subsequently announced a pause in its operations to enhance its spacecraft, a process that took much longer than expected. In May, the company finally completed its final test flight ahead of commencing commercial operations.
This has been years in the making, with approximately 800 customers having already purchased tickets, initially priced between $200,000 and $250,000 per passenger, which were subsequently raised to $450,000. Virgin Galactic's space program has long been behind schedule, partly due to an accident in 2014 that claimed the life of a pilot.
Following the second mission (Galactic 02) in August, Virgin Galactic promises monthly spaceflights. The company is competing with billionaire Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, which also offers suborbital flights and has already sent 32 people into space. However, after a mishap in September 2022 during an unmanned flight, its rocket was grounded.
Founded in 2004 by billionaire Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic has reached space on five previous occasions, albeit with company personnel as passengers.