Virgin Galactic
American spaceflight company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Virgin Galactic is a spaceflight company founded by the English billionaire Richard Branson in 2004.
"Virgin Galactic's new "Delta" class space planes are [... supposed to fly] no earlier than 2026", according to media (in 2024).[1][2][3]
History
The rocket plane Unity, was retired in 2024.
The SpaceShip III (SS3 or SS III) is no longer being developed (as of 2024). Earlier (March 2021), it was shown, but the first one - the VSS Imagine - has not flown [as of 2024].[4]
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Flights
- In May 2021 one of the company's spaceplanes took people into space.[5][6]
- 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.[7] However, the rocket plane Unity flew outside restricted airspace;[8][9] 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.[10]
- 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.[11]
![Thumb](#/media/File:Virgin_Galactic_SpaceShipTwo_"Unity"_rollout_19Feb2016,_FAITH_hangar,_Mojave,_California.jpg)
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References
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