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VSS Unity
American commercial sub-orbitable space ship / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
VSS Unity (Virgin Space Ship Unity, registration: N202VG), previously referred to as VSS Voyager, is a retired SpaceShipTwo-class suborbital rocket-powered crewed spaceplane. It was the second SpaceShipTwo to be built and was part of the Virgin Galactic fleet. It first reached space as defined by the United States (above 50 miles or 80.5 km) on 13 December 2018, on the VP-03 mission.[4]
VSS Unity | |
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Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Unity rollout, 19 February 2016, FAITH hangar, Mojave, California | |
Type | Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo |
Manufacturer | The Spaceship Company |
Construction number | 2[1] |
Registration | N202VG[2] |
First flight |
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Owners and operators | Virgin Galactic |
In service | 2016–2024 |
Fate | Retired 8 June 2024 |
Unity was able to reach space as defined by the U.S. Air Force, NASA, and the FAA, by going over 50 miles (80.5 km) above sea level. However, it was unable to go above the Kármán line, the FAI's defined space boundary of 100 km (62.1 miles).
VSS Unity was rolled out on 19 February 2016[5][6] and completed ground-based system integration testing in September 2016, prior to its first flight on 8 September 2016.[3][7][8]
Unity was retired on 8 June 2024 after its final flight took place on that date, as Virgin Galactic shifted its focus to the next generation Delta-class vehicles.[9]