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First Astronaut Launch from New Mexico May Happen Next Week

Last month Virgin Galactic was planning to make New Mexico one of the few U.S. states from where crewed space missions were flown. Due to the ongoing health crisis and local restrictions, the flight had to be postponed.
Virgin Galactic to fly next mission on December 11 1 photo
Photo: Virgin Galactic
As we entered the last month of the year, the space company decided it will wait no longer, and announced it now targets a flight sometime on or after December 11. It will do so with a skeleton crew, and allow no guests or media on site.

“With safety as our core priority, we remain committed to completing our first powered flight in New Mexico. In accordance with local government guidelines and safety protocols, we have minimized the number of people onsite to the greatest degree possible,” said in a statement Michael Colglazier, CEO, Virgin Galactic.

“While on this occasion no media or guests will be allowed on-site, our team will endeavor to capture and share the beautiful images with the world after the flight has been completed. We look forward to completing this important milestone in our test flight program in the coming weeks.”

Virgin’s spacecraft, VSS Unity, will be piloted by CJ Sturckow and Dave Mackay. For the former, the New Mexico launch will mark a record of sorts, as he is to become the first human to have flown to space from three different U.S. states.

VSS Unity is designed to fly to the edge of space about 50 miles (80 km) high, with tourists on board once ready and fully operational. Next week’s test flight will assess a number of systems, such as the upgraded horizontal stabilizers and flight controls during boost, but will also fly experiments on behalf of NASA.

Virgin does not say when it hopes to actually take people to space. A number of people (in the hundreds, we're told) have already expressed interest in flying Virgin, and you may do so as well, if you like. A full guide on how to book a trip to space can be found here.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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