Photo: Virgin Galactic
We kind of lost track of how many times Richard Branson promised we’ll have tourists going to the edge of space by this or that date. It’s 2021 already, and it would seem turning this dream into reality will take a little while longer.
The company tasked with this mission, Virgin Galactic, seems to have been testing the Unity spaceship since forever now. The last attempt took place in December 2020, following several delays caused by health restrictions adopted by the state of New Mexico, from where it operates, and ended in a failure.
According to the information released at the time, “the onboard computer which monitors the propulsion system lost connection, triggering a fail-safe scenario that intentionally halted ignition of the rocket motor.” The two pilots, CJ Sturckow and Dave Mackay, managed to safely return themselves and their ship to Spaceport America.
Apparently enough time has passed for the Virgin team to evaluate and fix what went wrong, and get ready to try again. According to a statement released last week, the next window for launch opens on February 13, and lasts until the end of the month.
The new mission will follow the same parameters of the last one. The same two pilots will be on board, accompanying research payload from NASA. Just like in December, no media will be allowed on site due to restrictions.
“We are pleased to be able to get back to the skies and continue our flight test program. I would like to thank our team for their continued hard work and diligence in working towards this important milestone for Virgin Galactic,” said in a statement Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic.
Unity is a suborbital rocket-power spaceplane capable of flying to the edge of space, about 50 miles (80 km) high. It launches horizontally from the underbelly of a carrier airplane, with eight people on board, including the two pilots.
When and if all this testing concludes, Virgin will be taking people up to space in exchange for over $250,000 per ride.
According to the information released at the time, “the onboard computer which monitors the propulsion system lost connection, triggering a fail-safe scenario that intentionally halted ignition of the rocket motor.” The two pilots, CJ Sturckow and Dave Mackay, managed to safely return themselves and their ship to Spaceport America.
Apparently enough time has passed for the Virgin team to evaluate and fix what went wrong, and get ready to try again. According to a statement released last week, the next window for launch opens on February 13, and lasts until the end of the month.
The new mission will follow the same parameters of the last one. The same two pilots will be on board, accompanying research payload from NASA. Just like in December, no media will be allowed on site due to restrictions.
“We are pleased to be able to get back to the skies and continue our flight test program. I would like to thank our team for their continued hard work and diligence in working towards this important milestone for Virgin Galactic,” said in a statement Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic.
Unity is a suborbital rocket-power spaceplane capable of flying to the edge of space, about 50 miles (80 km) high. It launches horizontally from the underbelly of a carrier airplane, with eight people on board, including the two pilots.
When and if all this testing concludes, Virgin will be taking people up to space in exchange for over $250,000 per ride.
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