Virgin Galactic
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Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. is a British-American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and the Virgin Group conglomerate which retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited.[2] It is headquartered in California, and operates from New Mexico. The company is developing commercial spacecraft and aims to provide suborbital spaceflights to space tourists. Virgin Galactic's suborbital spacecraft are air launched from beneath a carrier airplane known as White Knight Two. Virgin Galactic's maiden spaceflight occurred in 2018 with its VSS Unity spaceship.[3] Branson had originally hoped to see a maiden spaceflight by 2010,[4] but the date was delayed for several years, and then delayed again, primarily due to the October 2014 crash of VSS Enterprise.
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Founded | 2004; 20 years ago (2004) | ||||||
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Operating bases | |||||||
Fleet size | 3 (2021) | ||||||
Destinations | 1 (Space) | ||||||
Traded as |
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Headquarters | Tustin, California, U.S | ||||||
Key people | Michael Colglazier (CEO) Doug Ahrens (CFO) Mike Moses (President – Safety) | ||||||
Founder | Richard Branson | ||||||
Revenue | US$2.31 million (2022) | ||||||
Operating income | US$−500 million (2022) | ||||||
Net income | US$−500 million (2022) | ||||||
Total assets | US$1.14 billion (2022) | ||||||
Total equity | US$480 million (2022) | ||||||
Employees | 1,166 (2022) | ||||||
Website | virgingalactic.com | ||||||
Notes | |||||||
The company did the early work on the satellite launch development of LauncherOne before this was hived off to a separate company, Virgin Orbit, in 2017. The company also has aspirations for suborbital transport and in 2017, Branson has said that Virgin Galactic was "in the best position in the world" to provide rocket-powered, point-to-point 3,000 mph (4,800 km/h) air travel.[5][6][7][8][9]
On 13 December 2018, VSS Unity achieved the project's first suborbital space flight, VSS Unity VP-03, with two pilots, reaching an altitude of 82.7 kilometres (51.4 mi), and officially entering outer space by U.S. standards.[10][11] In February 2019, the project carried three people, including a passenger, on VSS Unity VF-01, with a member of the team floating within the cabin during a spaceflight that reached 89.9 kilometres (55.9 mi). On 11 July 2021, the company founder Richard Branson and three other employees rode on a flight as passengers, marking the first time a spaceflight company founder has travelled on his own ship into outer space (according to the NASA definition of outer space beginning at 50 miles above the Earth, however the international community regards outer space beginning approximately 62 miles above the earth at what is referred to as the Kármán line[12]).
In February 2022, Virgin Galactic announced that it was opening ticket sales to the public.[13] The price of a reservation is $450,000.[13] The company had sold tickets before February 2022 to clients that had paid deposits earlier or otherwise "were on a list"; as of November 2021, the company had about 700 customers (tickets sold). The company aims to have about three launches per month sometime in 2023.[14] A spin-off company, Virgin Orbit, used the same launch approach to achieve orbital launch, but was shut down in May 2023. In June 2023, the company announced it would launch the first commercial space tourism flight called Galactic 01 later in the month. This came after completing its final test flight in May.[15][16] On 29 June 2023, Virgin Galactic launched its first commercial space flight successfully.
Formation and early activities
Virgin Galactic was founded in 2004 by British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, who had previously founded the Virgin Group and the Virgin Atlantic airline, and who had a long personal history of balloon and surface record-breaking activities. As part of Branson's promotion of the firm, he has added a variation of the Virgin Galactic livery to his personal business jet, the Dassault Falcon 900EX "Galactic girl" (G-GALX).[17][18]
The Spaceship Company
The Spaceship Company (TSC) was founded by Richard Branson through Virgin Group (which owned 70%) and Burt Rutan through Scaled Composites (which owned 30%) to build commercial spaceships and launch aircraft for space travel. From the time of TSC's formation in 2005, the launch customer was Virgin Galactic, which contracted to purchase five SpaceShipTwos and two WhiteKnightTwos.[19] Scaled Composites was contracted to develop and build the initial prototypes of WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo, and then TSC began production of the follow-on vehicles beginning in 2008.[20][21] In 2012, after Northrop Grumman acquired Scaled Composites, Virgin Galactic acquired the remaining 30% of The Spaceship Company.[22]
Investors
After a claimed investment by Virgin Group of US$100 million,[23] in 2010 the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi, Aabar Investments group, acquired a 31.8% stake in Virgin Galactic for US$280 million, receiving exclusive regional rights to launch tourism and scientific research space flights from the United Arab Emirates capital.[23] In July 2011, Aabar invested a further US$110 million to develop a program to launch small satellites into low Earth orbit, raising their equity share to 37.8%.[24] Virgin announced in June 2014 that they were in talks with Google about the injection of capital to fund both development and operations.[25] The New Mexico government has invested approximately $200m (£121m) in the Spaceport America facility, for which Virgin Galactic is the anchor tenant; other commercial space companies also use the site.
On Monday 28 October 2019, Virgin Galactic listed into the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the ticker symbol 'SPCE', the first publicly traded space tourism company (i.e., company whose primary business is space tourism). The company raised $450 million through a SPAC merger listing, and company's market value after listing was more than $2.4 billion. At the time, the company claimed to have over 600 customer reservations representing approximately $80 million in total collected deposits and more than $120 million in "potential revenue".[26]
Retail interest
After its listing, SPCE was a popular stock for many retail investors and was often mentioned[27] on the subreddit r/wallstreetbets.[28][29]
Early history and background
The Ansari X Prize was a space competition in which the X Prize Foundation offered a US$10,000,000 prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable crewed spacecraft into space twice within two weeks. It was modeled after early 20th-century aviation prizes, and aimed to spur development of low-cost spaceflight.[30]
Created in May 1996 and initially called just the "X Prize", it was renamed the "Ansari X Prize" on May 6, 2004 following a multimillion-dollar donation from entrepreneurs Anousheh Ansari and Amir Ansari.
The prize was won on October 4, 2004, the 47th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch, by the Tier One project designed by Burt Rutan and financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, using the experimental spaceplane SpaceShipOne. $10 million was awarded to the winner, and more than $100 million was invested in new technologies in pursuit of the prize.[30]
Overview of the flights to be developed
The spacecraft initially called SpaceShipTwo is planned to achieve a suborbital journey with a short period of weightlessness. Carried to about 16 kilometers, or 52,000 ft, underneath a carrier aircraft, White Knight II, after separation the vehicle would continue to over 100 km (the Kármán line, a common definition of where "space" begins). The time from liftoff of the White Knight booster carrying SpaceShipTwo until the touchdown of the spacecraft after the suborbital flight would be about 2.5 hours. The suborbital flight itself would be only a small fraction of that time, with weightlessness lasting approximately 6 minutes.[31] Passengers will be able to release themselves from their seats during these six minutes and float around the cabin.
2007 Scaled Composites fuel tank testing explosion
In July 2007, three Scaled Composites employees were killed and three critically injured at the Mojave spaceport while testing components of the rocket motor for SpaceShipTwo. An explosion occurred during a cold fire test, which involved nitrous oxide flowing through fuel injectors. The procedure had been expected to be safe.[32]
Commencement of sub-space test flights
Just a year later, in July 2008, Richard Branson predicted the maiden space voyage would take place within 18 months.[4] In October 2009, Virgin Galactic announced that initial flights would take place from Spaceport America "within two years."[33] Later that year, Scaled Composites announced that White Knight Two's first SpaceShipTwo captive flights would be in early 2010.[34] Both aircraft did fly together in March 2010.[35] The credibility of the earlier promises of launch dates by Virgin Galactic were brought into question in October 2014 by its chief executive, George T. Whitesides, when he told The Guardian: "We've changed dramatically as a company. When I joined in 2010 we were mostly a marketing organisation. Right now we can design, build, test, and fly a rocket motor all by ourselves and all in Mojave, which I don't think is done anywhere else on the planet".[36]
On 7 December 2009, SpaceShipTwo was unveiled at the Mojave Spaceport.[37] Branson told the 300 people attending, each of whom had booked rides at $200,000 each, that flights would begin "in 2011." However, in April 2011, Branson announced further delays, saying "I hope 18 months from now, we'll be sitting in our spaceship and heading off into space."[38] By February 2012, SpaceShipTwo had completed 15 test flights attached to White Knight Two and an additional 16 glide tests, the last of which took place in September 2011.[39] A rocket-powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo took place on 29 April 2013, with an engine burn of 16 seconds duration. The brief flight began at an altitude of 47,000 feet and reached a maximum altitude of 55,000 feet. While the SS2 achieved a speed of Mach 1.2 (920 mph),[40] this was less than half the 2,000 mph speed predicted by Richard Branson. SpaceShipTwo's second supersonic flight achieved a speed of 1,100 mph for 20 seconds; while this was an improvement, it fell far short of the 2,500 mph for 70 seconds required to carry six passengers into space. However, Branson still announced his spaceship would be capable of "launching 100 satellites every day."[41]
In addition to the suborbital passenger business, Virgin Galactic intended to market SpaceShipTwo for suborbital space science missions and market White Knight Two for "small satellite" launch services. It had planned to initiate RFPs for the satellite business in early 2010, but flights had not materialized as of 2014.
On 14 May 2013, Richard Branson stated on Virgin Radio Dubai's Kris Fade Morning Show that he would be aboard the first public flight of SpaceShipTwo, which had again been rescheduled, this time to December 25, 2013.[42] "Maybe I'll dress up as Father Christmas", Branson said.[38] The third rocket-powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo took place on 10 January 2014 and successfully tested the spaceship's Reaction Control System (RCS) and the newly installed thermal protection coating on the vehicle's tail booms. Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said "We are progressively closer to our target of starting commercial service in 2014".[43] Interviewed by The Observer at the time of her 90th birthday in July 2014, Branson's mother, Eve, told reporter Elizabeth Day of her intention of going to space herself. Asked when that might be, she replied: "I think it's the end of the year", adding after a pause, "It's always 'the end of the year' ".[44]
In February 2014, cracks in WhiteKnightTwo, where the spars connect with the fuselage, were discovered during an inspection conducted after Virgin Galactic took possession of the aircraft from builder Scaled Composites.[45]
In September 2014, Richard Branson described the intended date for the first commercial flight as February or March 2015; by the time of this announcement, a new plastic-based fuel had yet to be ignited in-flight.[46] By September 2014, the three test flights of the SS2 had only reached an altitude of around 71,000 ft, approximately 13 miles; in order to receive a Federal Aviation Administration licence to carry passengers, the craft needs to complete test missions at full speed and 62-mile height. Following the announcement of further delays, UK newspaper The Sunday Times reported that Branson faced a backlash from those who had booked flights with Virgin Galactic, with the company having received $80 million in fares and deposits.[47] Tom Bower, author of Branson: The Man behind the Mask, told the Sunday Times: "They spent 10 years trying to perfect one engine and failed. They are now trying to use a different engine and get into space in six months. It's just not feasible."[48] BBC science editor David Shukman commented in October 2014, that "[Branson's] enthusiasm and determination [are] undoubted. But his most recent promises of launching the first passenger trip by the end of this year had already started to look unrealistic some months ago."[49]
VSS Enterprise crash
At 10:51 PST 31 October 2014, the fourth rocket-powered test flight of the company's first SpaceShipTwo craft, VSS Enterprise, ended in disaster, as it broke apart in mid-air, with the debris falling into the Mojave desert in California, shortly after being released from the mothership. Initial reports attributed the loss to an unidentified "in-flight anomaly".[50][51] The flight was the first test of SpaceShipTwo with new plastic-based fuel, replacing the original—a rubber-based solid fuel that had not met expectations.[52] 39-year-old co-pilot Michael Alsbury was killed and 43-year-old pilot Peter Siebold was seriously injured.
Investigation and media comment
Initial investigations found that the engine and propellant tanks were intact, showing that there had not been a fuel explosion. Telemetry data and cockpit video showed that instead, the air braking system appeared to have deployed incorrectly and too early, for unknown reasons, and that the craft had violently broken apart in mid-air seconds later.
U.S. National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Christopher Hart said on 2 November 2014 that investigators had determined SpaceShipTwo's tail system was supposed to have been released for deployment as the craft was traveling about 1.4 times the speed of sound; instead, the tail section began pivoting when the vehicle was flying at Mach 1. "I'm not stating that this is the cause of the mishap. We have months and months of investigation to determine what the cause was." Asked if pilot error was a possible factor, Hart said: "We are looking at all of these issues to determine what was the root cause of this mishap." He noted that it was also unclear how the tail mechanism began to rotate once it was unlocked, since that maneuver requires a separate pilot command that was never given, and whether the craft's position in the air and its speed somehow enabled the tail section to swing free on its own.[53]
In November 2014, Branson and Virgin Galactic came under criticism for their attempts to distance the company from the disaster by referring to the test pilots as Scaled Composites employees.[54] Virgin Galactic's official statement on 31 October 2014 said: "Virgin Galactic's partner Scaled Composites conducted a powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo earlier today. [...] Local authorities have confirmed that one of the two Scaled Composites pilots died during the accident".[55] This was in strong contrast to public communications previously released concerning the group's successful flights, which had routinely presented pilots, craft, and projects within the same organizational structures, as being "Virgin Galactic" flights or activities of "the Galactic team".[54][56][57] The BBC's David Shukman commented that: "Even as details emerge of what went wrong, this is clearly a massive setback to a company hoping to pioneer a new industry of space tourism. Confidence is everything and this will not encourage the long list of celebrity and millionaire customers waiting for their first flight".[49][58]
At a hearing in Washington D.C. on 28 July 2015,[59][60] and a press release on the same day[61] the NTSB cited inadequate design safeguards, poor pilot training, lack of rigorous FAA oversight and a potentially anxious co-pilot without recent flight experience as important factors in the 2014 crash. They determined that the co-pilot, who died in the accident, prematurely unlocked a movable tail section some ten seconds after SpaceShip Two fired its rocket engine and was breaking the sound barrier, resulting in the craft's breaking apart. But the Board also found that the Scaled Composites unit of Northrop Grumman, which designed and flew the prototype space tourism vehicle, did not properly prepare for potential human slip-ups by providing a fail-safe system that could have guarded against such premature deployment. "A single-point human failure has to be anticipated," board member Robert Sumwalt said. Instead, Scaled Composites "put all their eggs in the basket of the pilots doing it correctly."
NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart emphasized that consideration of human factors, which was not emphasized in the design, safety assessment, and operation of SpaceShipTwo's feather system, is critical to safe human spaceflight to mitigate the potential consequences of human error. "Manned commercial spaceflight is a new frontier, with many unknown risks and hazards. In such an environment, safety margins around known hazards must be rigorously established and, where possible, expanded. For commercial spaceflight to successfully mature, we must meticulously seek out and mitigate known hazards, as a prerequisite to identifying and mitigating new hazards."[61] In its submission to the NTSB, Virgin Galactic reports that the second SS2, currently nearing completion, has been modified with an automatic mechanical inhibit device to prevent locking or unlocking of the feather during safety-critical phases. An explicit warning about the dangers of premature unlocking has also been added to the checklist and operating handbook, and a formalized crew resource management (CRM) approach, already used by Virgin for its WK2 operations, is being adopted for SS2. However, despite CRM issues being cited as a likely contributing cause, Virgin confirmed that it would not modify the cockpit display system.[62]
While Virgin has been pursuing the development of a smallsat launch vehicle since 2012, the company began in 2015 to make the smallsat launch business a larger part of Virgin's core business plan, as the Virgin human spaceflight program has experienced multiple delays.[63] This part of the business was spun off into a new company called Virgin Orbit in 2017.[64]
VSS Unity
Following the crash of VSS Enterprise, the replacement SpaceShipTwo named VSS Unity was rolled out on 19 February 2016.[65][66] Test flights were set to begin after ground tests completed in August 2016.[67] VSS Unity completed its first flight, a successful glide test, in December 2016. The glide lasted ten minutes.[68] By January 2018, seven glide tests had been completed,[69] and on 5 April 2018 it performed a powered test flight, the first since 2014.[70] By July 2018, Unity had gone considerably higher and faster in its testing program than had its predecessor.[71] On 13 December 2018, VSS Unity reached a height of 82.7 km (51.4 miles) above the Earth at speeds close to three times the speed of sound. The two pilots, Mark "Forger" Stucky and Frederick "CJ" Sturckow earned commercial astronaut wings from the US government for the accomplishment.[3][72] Another flight in February 2019 carried third crew member (1 in the passenger cabin) for the first time.[73]
After transfer to Spaceport America in New Mexico in February 2020, a couple of 15 km altitude test flights were carried out. Due to a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in New Mexico, Virgin Galactic had to postpone a key test flight of its spacecraft in November 2020,[74] and then in December 2020, a computer connection issue prevented engine ignition.[75] On 22 May 2021, VSS flew its sixth powered test flight reaching an altitude of 89 km [55 mi].[76] This suborbital flight marked the first ever human space flight from New Mexico which was piloted by CJ Sturkow (pilot-in-command) and Dave MacKay. The VSS Unity was carried to 44,000' by the jet powered launch aircraft Mothership Eve, where it was released to reach its suborbital altitude over New Mexico.[77] A test flight on 11 July 2021 fully crewed with two pilots Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci and the four passengers were Richard Branson, Beth Moses, Colin Bennett and Sirisha Bandla.[78] The flight was initially claimed to be successful but it was later revealed Unity briefly stepped outside the airspace that had been reserved for it and the FAA were not informed as required. The FAA grounded Virgin Galactic's space planes before allowing a resumption of flights after some changes to procedures including reserving a larger volume of airspace.[79]
On 14 October 2021, Virgin Galactic announced that an upgrade program for Unity and Eve would begin, delaying future commercial flights to mid 2022. This followed material analysis that required further analysis.[80][81]
Spaceship III
The first Spaceship III, VSS Imagine, was rolled out on 30 March 2021 and it was indicated there is ground testing to do before glide test flights should commence not earlier than Summer 2021.[82]
This section may lend undue weight to SpaceShipOne flights, which were not a development of nor operated by Virgin Galactic; nor of Richard Branson's predecessor company, The Spaceship Company. (January 2024) |
SpaceShipOne Flights
On 17 December 2003—on the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers first powered flight of an aircraft—SpaceShipOne, piloted by Brian Binnie on Flight 11P, made its first rocket-powered flight and became the first privately built craft to achieve supersonic flight.[83]: 8
All of the flights of SpaceShipOne were from the Mojave Airport Civilian Flight Test Center. Flights were numbered, starting with flight 01 on May 20, 2003. One or two letters are appended to the number to indicate the type of mission. An appended C indicates that the flight was a captive carry, G indicates an unpowered glide, and P indicates a powered flight. If the actual flight differs in category from the intended flight, two letters are appended: the first indicating the intended mission and the second the mission actually performed.
Flight | Date | Top speed | Altitude | Duration | Pilot |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
01C | May 20, 2003 | 14.63 km[84] | 1 h 48 min | uncrewed | |
02C | July 29, 2003 | 14 km | 2 h 06 min | Mike Melvill | |
03G | August 7, 2003 | 278 km/h | 14.33 km[84] | 19 min 00 s | Mike Melvill |
04GC | August 27, 2003 | 370 km/h[84] | 14 km | 1 h 06 min | Mike Melvill |
05G | August 27, 2003 | 370 km/h | 14.69 km[84] | 10 min 30 s | Mike Melvill |
06G | September 23, 2003 | 213 km/h | 14.26 km[84] | 12 min 15 s | Mike Melvill |
07G | October 17, 2003 | 241 km/h | 14.08 km[84] | 17 min 49 s | Mike Melvill |
08G | November 14, 2003 | 213 km/h | 14.42 km[84] | 19 min 55 s | Peter Siebold |
09G | November 19, 2003 | 213 km/h | 14.72 km[84] | 12 min 25 s | Mike Melvill |
10G | December 4, 2003 | 213 km/h | 14.75 km[84] | 13 min 14 s | Brian Binnie |
11P | December 17, 2003 | Mach 1.2 | 20.67 km[84] | 18 min 10 s | Brian Binnie |
12G | March 11, 2004 | 232 km/h | 14.78 km[84] | 18 min 30 s | Peter Siebold |
13P | April 8, 2004 | Mach 1.6 | 32.00 km[84] | 16 min 27 s | Peter Siebold |
14P | May 13, 2004 | Mach 2.5 | 64.43 km[84] | 20 min 44 s | Mike Melvill |
15P | June 21, 2004 | Mach 2.9 | 100.124 km[84] | 24 min 05 s | Mike Melvill |
16P | September 29, 2004 | Mach 2.92 | 102.93 km[84] | 24 min 11 s | Mike Melvill |
17P | October 4, 2004 | Mach 3.09 | 112.014 km[84] | 23 min 56 s | Brian Binnie |
SpaceShipTwo
VSS Enterprise flights
Legend
Code | Detail |
---|---|
GFxx | Glide Flight |
CCxx | Captive Carry Flight |
CFxx | Cold Flow Flight |
PFxx | Powered Flight |
Fxx | Feathering deployed |
Flights
Flight designation | Date | Duration | Maximum altitude | Top speed | Pilot / co-pilot | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
41 / GF01 | 10 October 2010 | 13 min | 46,000 feet (14,000 m) | 180 knots (210 mph; 330 km/h) EAS 2 g | Siebold / Alsbury | |
44 / GF02 | 28 October 2010 | 10 min, 51 sec | 230 knots (260 mph; 430 km/h) EAS 3 g | Stucky / Alsbury | ||
45 / GF03 | 17 November 2010 | 11 min, 39 sec | 246 knots (283 mph; 456 km/h) EAS 3.5 g | Siebold / Nichols | ||
47 / GF04 | 13 January 2011 | 11 min, 34 sec | 250 knots (290 mph; 460 km/h) EAS 3.8 g | Stucky / Nichols | ||
56 / GF05 | 22 April 2011 | 14 min, 31 sec | Siebold / Shane | |||
57 / GF06 | 27 April 2011 | 16 min, 7 sec | Stucky / Alsbury | |||
58 / GF07 | 4 May 2011 | 11 min, 5 sec | 51,500 feet (15,700 m) | 15,500 feet per minute (4,700 m/min) | Siebold / Nichols | F01 |
59 / GF08 | 10 May 2011 | 13 min, 2 sec | Stucky / Shane | |||
60 / GF09 | 19 May 2011 | 11 min, 32 sec | Siebold / Binnie | |||
61 / GF10 | 25 May 2011 | 10 min, 14 sec | Above 50,000 feet (15,000 m) | Stucky / Binnie | F02 | |
62 / (CC12) | 9 June 2011 | Siebold / Shane | Release failure during flight intended as GF11 | |||
64 / GF11 | 14 June 2011 | 13 min, 18 sec | Siebold / Shane | |||
65 / GF12 | 15 June 2011 | 10 min, 32 sec | Stucky / Nichols | |||
66 / GF13 | 21 June 2011 | 8 min, 55 sec | Siebold / Nichols | |||
67 / GF14 | 23 June 2011 | 7 min, 33 sec | Stucky / Nichols | |||
68 / GF15 | 27 June 2011 | 7 min, 39 sec | Siebold / Binnie | |||
73 / GF16 | 29 September 2011 | 7 min, 15 sec | Stucky / Nichols / Persall | F03 | ||
87 / GF17 | 26 June 2012 | 11 min, 22 sec | Siebold / Alsbury | |||
88 / GF18 | 29 June 2012 | 13 min | Stucky / Mackay | |||
90 / GF19 | 18 July 2012 | 10 min, 39 sec | Siebold / Nichols | |||
91 / GF20 | 2 August 2012 | 8 min | Stucky / Nichols | F04 | ||
92 / GF21 | 7 August 2012 | 9 min, 52 sec | Siebold / Colmer | F05 | ||
93 / GF22 | 11 August 2012 | 8 min, 2 sec | Stucky / Binnie | |||
109 / GF23 | 19 December 2012 | 13 min, 24 sec | Stucky / Alsbury | |||
113 / GF24 | 3 April 2013 | 9 min | Stucky / Nichols | F06 | ||
114 / CF01 | 12 April 2013 | 10 min, 48 sec | Stucky / Alsbury | |||
115 / PF01[90][91] | 29 April 2013 | 13 min | 56,000 feet (17,000 m) | Mach 1.22 | Stucky / Alsbury | |
130 / GF25 | 25 July 2013 | 11 min, 52 sec | Stucky / Mackay | |||
131 / GF26 | 8 August 2013 | 10 min | Stucky / Mackay | F07 | ||
132 / PF02 | 5 September 2013 | 14 min | 69,000 feet (21,000 m) | Mach 1.43 | Stucky / Nichols | F08 |
141 / GF27 | 11 December 2013. | 11 min | Stucky / Masucci | |||
147 / PF03 | 10 January 2014 | 12 min, 43 sec | 72,000 feet (22,000 m)[92] | Mach 1.4 | Mackay / Stucky[93] | F09 |
149 / GF28 | 17 January 2014 | 14 min, 12 sec | Siebold / Sturckow | |||
156 / GF29[94] | 29 July 2014 | 12 min | Masucci / Siebold | |||
164 / CF02[94] | 28 August 2014 | 13 min | Siebold / Alsbury | |||
170 / GF30[95] | 7 October 2014 | 10 min, 30 sec | Siebold / Sturckow[96] | F10 | ||
?? / PF04 | 31 October 2014 | 0 min, 13 sec | roughly 50,000 feet (15,000 m)[97] | ? (at least Mach 0.92) | Siebold / Alsbury[98] | Unintended feathering destroys vehicle in-flight |
VSS Unity flights
Legend
Code | Detail |
---|---|
GFxx | Glide Flight |
CCxx | Captive Carry Flight |
CFxx | Cold Flow Flight |
PFxx | Powered Flight |
Fxx | Feathering deployed |
Flights
Flight designation | Date | Duration | Maximum altitude | Top speed | Pilot / co-pilot / passengers | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
01 / CC01 | 8 September 2016 | 15.2 km (50,000 ft) | Stucky / Mackay | [99] | ||
02 / CC02 | 1 November 2016 | Strong winds, no release during flight intended as GF01[100] | ||||
03 / CC03 | 3 November 2016 | Strong winds, no release during second attempt at GF01 | ||||
04 / CC04 | 30 November 2016 | Test of minor modifications | ||||
05 / GF01 | 3 December 2016 | 10 minutes[101] | 16.8 km (55,000 ft) | Mach 0.6 | Stucky / Mackay | First Glide Flight[102][103][104][105] |
06 / GF02 | 22 December 2016 | Stucky / Mackay | [106] | |||
07 / GF03 | 24 February 2017 | Sturckow / Mackay | 3rd Glide Flight | |||
08 / GF04 | 1 May 2017 | Stucky / Masucci | F01[107] | |||
09 / CF01 | 1 June 2017 | Mackay / Sturckow | [108] | |||
10 / GF06 | 4 August 2017 | Mackay / Sturckow | First flight with major propulsion components aboard.[109][110] | |||
11 / GF07 | 11 January 2018 | Mach 0.9 | Stucky / Masucci | [111][112][113][114] | ||
12 / PF01 | 5 April 2018 | 25.7 km (84,300 ft) | Mach 1.87 | Stucky / Mackay | F02[115] | |
13 / PF02 | 29 May 2018 | 34.9 km (114,501 ft)[116][117] | Mach 1.9 | Mackay / Stucky | Test of changed center of gravity as passenger seats carried for first time. F03[118] | |
14 / PF03 | 26 July 2018 | 52.1 km (170,800 ft)[119] | Mach 2.47[119] | Mackay / Masucci[120] | Reached Mesosphere for first time.[121] | |
15 / VP-03 | 13 December 2018 | 82.7 km (271,330 ft) | Mach 2.9[122] | Stucky / Sturckow | Reached outer space for first time according to the US definition of the space border.[123] | |
16 / VF-01 | 22 February 2019 | 89.9 km (295,007 ft)[124][125] | Mach 3.04 [124] | Mackay / Masucci / Moses[124] | Carried third crew member (1 in the passenger cabin) for the first time [124] | |
17 / GF08 | 1 May 2020 | 15.24 km (50,000 ft)[126] | Mach 0.7 [126] | Mackay / Sturckow [126] | First flight from New Mexico [126] | |
18 / GF09 | 25 June 2020 | 15.54 km (51,000 ft)[127] | Mach 0.85 [127] | Stucky / Masucci [127] | ||
19 | 12 December 2020 | Mackay / Sturckow | First attempted crewed spaceflight from New Mexico, aborted due to computer malfunction, engine ignited and automatically turned off.[128] | |||
21 / VF-03 | 22 May 2021 | 89.23 km (55.45 mi) | Mackay / Sturckow | First crewed spaceflight (above 50 miles) from New Mexico[129] | ||
22 | 11 July 2021 | 86.1 km (53.5 mi)[130] | Mackay / Masucci / Sirisha Bandla, Colin Bennett, Beth Moses, Richard Branson | First fully crewed[note 1] flight included Richard Branson. | ||
24 / GF10 | 26 April 2023 | 9 minutes | 13.5 km (47,000 ft) | Sturckow / Pecile | [131] | |
25 | 25 May 2023 | 14 minutes | 87.2 km (54.2 mi) | Mach 2.94 | Masucci / Sturckow / Moses / Mays / Gilbert / Huie | [132][133] |
Galactic 01 | 29 June 2023 | 13:50 minutes | 85.1 km (52.9 mi) | Mach 2.88 | Masucci / Pecile / Villadei / Carlucci / Pandolfi / Bennett | First VSS Unity commercial service flight, carrying members of the Italian Air Force.[134] |
Galactic 02 | 10 August 2023 | 15:38 minutes | 88.5 km (55.0 mi) | Mach 3.00 | Sturckow / Latimer / Moses / Goodwin / Schahaff / Mayers | First VSS Unity flight carrying a private astronaut.[135] |
Galactic 03 | 8 September 2023 | 12:37 minutes | 88.6 km (55.1 mi) | Mach 2.95 | Masucci / Pecile / Moses / Baxter / Reynard / Nash[136] | |
Galactic 04 | 6 October 2023 | 14:23 minutes | 87.4 km (54.3 mi) | Mach 2.95 | Latimer / Sturckow / Moses / Rosano / Beattie / Salim[137] | |
Galactic 05 | 2 November 2023 | 14:20 minutes | 87.2 km (54.2 mi) | Mach 2.96 | Masucci / Latimer / Bennett / Stern / Gerardi / Maisonrouge[138] | |
Galactic 06 | 26 January 2024 | 88.8 km (55.2 mi) | Mach 2.98 | Sturckow / Pecile / Borozdina / Vaughn / Haider / Kornswiet |
Potential collaboration with NASA
In February 2007, Virgin announced that they had signed a memorandum of understanding with NASA to explore the potential for collaboration,[139][140] but, to date, this has produced only a relatively small contract in 2011 of up to $4.5 million for research flights.[141]
OneWeb satellite Internet access provider
Virgin Group in January 2015, announced an investment into the OneWeb satellite constellation providing world Internet access service of WorldVu. Virgin Galactic will take a share of the launch contracts to launch the satellites into their 1,200 km (750 mi) orbits. The prospective launches would use the under-design LauncherOne system.[142][143] In 2017 the LauncherOne business was spun off into Virgin Orbit.
Collaboration with Boom Technology
Virgin Galactic and the Virgin Group are collaborating with Boom Technology in order to create a new supersonic passenger transporter as a successor to the Concorde. This new supersonic plane would fly at Mach 2.2 (similar to Concorde) for a 3-hour trans-Atlantic flight (half of standard), projected to cost $2,500–10,000 per seat (half of Concorde) for a load of 45 passengers (the Concorde held 100). It is anticipated that with the accumulation of knowledge since the design of Concorde, the new plane would be safer and cheaper with better fuel economy, operating costs, and aerodynamics. Boom would collaborate with Virgin's The Spaceship Company for design, engineering, and flight-test support, and manufacturing.[144][145][146]
The initial model would be the Boom Technology XB-1 "Baby Boom" Supersonic Demonstrator 1/3-size prototype. It would be capable of trans-Pacific flight, LA-to-Sydney in 6.75 hours, traveling at 2,335 km/h (1,451 mph). XB-1 would be equipped with General Electric J85 engines, Honeywell avionics, with composite structures fabricated by Blue Force using TenCate Advanced Composites carbon fibre products. First flight is scheduled for 2021. Virgin Galactic has optioned 10 units.[145][146]
Collaboration with Under Armour
On 24 January 2019, Virgin Galactic announced a partnership with Under Armour for the fabrication of space suits for passengers and pilots of SpaceShipTwo. Under Armour will also create uniforms for Virgin Galactic employees working at Spaceport America. The full range known as the UA | VG (Under Armour | Virgin Galactic) built with UA's new Intelliknit fabric was revealed later this year, ahead of Richard Branson's inaugural commercial flight.[147][148] This range includes a base layer, the space suit and footwear. It is said that the base layer will enhance performance and blood flow during the high and zero G portions of flight and the liner of the spacesuit is made up of new fabrics such as Tencel Luxe, SpinIt and Nomex, used for temperature control and moisture management.[149]
Key personnel
David Mackay, former RAF test pilot, was named chief pilot for Virgin Galactic in 2011[150] and chief test-pilot.[151] Steve Isakowitz was appointed as Virgin Galactic's president in June 2013.[152] In October 2016, Mike Moses replaced Steve Isakowitz as president; Isakowitz moved to Aerospace Corp. to become president and CEO; Moses was promoted from VP Operations, and was once a NASA flight director and shuttle integration manager.[153]
Personnel
- Founder: Richard Branson
- Interim Chairman: Ray Mabus
- CEO: Michael Colglazier
- CFO: Doug Ahrens
- President - Safety: Mike Moses
Pilot corps
- Chief pilot: Dave "Mac" Mackay[154]
- Chief flight instructor: Mike "Sooch" Masucci[154]
- Test pilot: Kelly Latimer[155]
- Pilot: Rick "CJ" Sturckow[154]
- Pilot: Nicola Pecile[156]
- Chief space flight participant instructor: Beth Moses[citation needed]
- Space flight participant instructor: Colin Bennett[citation needed]