Virgin Galactic Completes First Commercial Flight to Space

Virgin Galactic's suborbital spacecraft has successfully conducted its first commercial flight. The mission, named Galactic 01, included participation from Italian Air Force Colonel Walter Vilday and Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Landolfi, along with Pantaleone Carlucci, an engineer from the Italian National Research Council and a pilot for Virgin Galactic. During the mission, they plan to conduct a series of scientific experiments and observations, as reported by Kommersant.

The VSS Unity vehicle took off from Spaceport America in New Mexico at 10:30 a.m. local time (6:30 p.m. Yerevan time). At an altitude of 15 km, the spacecraft was expected to detach from the carrier aircraft and continue its flight autonomously. VSS Unity can ascend to heights of 80-100 km above Earth, reaching the so-called Karman line, which is considered the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space. It is anticipated that commercial flights will take place at altitudes of up to 80 km.

In May, Virgin Galactic launched the VSS Unity piloted suborbital spacecraft for the first time since 2021. This was the sixth flight of the vehicle, following a mission in July 2021 that included the company's billionaire founder Richard Branson. The company expects to conduct one launch per month. Virgin Galactic has already sold over 800 tickets, which are currently priced at $450,000 each. The next launch is scheduled for early August.

In April, Branson's other space company, Virgin Orbit, filed for bankruptcy. While Virgin Galactic was originally created for space tourism flights, Virgin Orbit specialized in launching satellites into orbit.