Virgin Galactic on Saturday successfully made its first rocket-powered flight from Spaceport America in New Mexico to outer space, some 55 miles (89 kilometers) above sea level. It was the company’s third successful space flight.
Two pilots were on board the VSS Unity shuttle that launched from VMS Eve. The shuttle travelled at up to three-times the speed of sound during the flight, before gliding back down through the atmosphere and landing back at Spaceport.
“Today was just an incredible step in the right direction,” Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson told The Associated Press after the flight. He added that commercial flights could begin next year.
“It tested a lot of new systems that the teams have been building and they all worked.” Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said. The company is planning two more test flights, dates for which haven’t been announced. The next flight will have four mission specialist passengers in the cabin while the other one will take Branson to the edge of space.
“We’re going to analyze all the data that we gather on these flights,” said Colglazier. “But watching from the ground and speaking with our pilots, it was magnificent. So now it’s time for us to do this again.”
Virgin Galactic said the flight provided an assessment of upgrades to a horizontal stabilizer, other flight controls and a suite of cabin cameras designed to provide live images of the flight to people on the ground. In addition, the shuttle carried a scientific payload as part of a cooperation with NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program.
Preparations for the flight included a maintenance review of the special carrier plane that flies the six-passenger spacecraft to a high altitude prior to it firing its rocket motor as it then pushes towards space. The flight was originally scheduled for December last year but had to be put off.
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