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Virgin Galactic Spaceships to Take Off from Italy

Spaceport America is Virgin Galactic’s dream of making civilian space travel from a dedicated location a reality. Located in New Mexico, it might soon no longer be the single facility from where Richard Branson’s space company will be operating.
Virgin spacecraft might take off from European soil 1 photo
Photo: Virgin Galactic
Last Friday, Virgin Galactic announced it has reached an agreement with two Italian space companies that will eventually lead to the creation of a second spaceport from which manned missions to space to be launched.

Virgin, together with local space industry companies Sitael and Altec, plans to build a dedicated space vehicle system that will be operated from an extension of the existing Taranto-Grottaglie Airport.

The vehicle to be built by Virgin will be used by the Italian Space Agency as a science platform for high-frequency space research, but also by private individuals willing tol become the first human tourists to space.

“I believe Italy’s vision which has led to this collaboration with our Virgin space companies, will provide a real impetus as we strive to open space for the benefit of life on Earth,”
said Sir Richard Branson in a statement.

“This partnership could see Virgin Galactic launch the first person in history into space from Italian soil - and in fact from any European territory.”

The companies involved did not release a timeline for the build of the airport extension or the space vehicle. Currently, Virgin is conducting flight tests in the U.S. with the VSS Unity.

Unity is a space-capable ship that launches horizontally at 50,000 feet (15 km) from the underbelly of a two-bodied aircraft called WhiteKnightTwo. Launching from this altitude allows the ship to bypass the denser regions of the atmosphere and save fuel and money.

Virgin Galactic plans to use the Unity to fly private citizens into space. These flights are open to all those interested and willing to pay $200,000 for a ride. The sum to be paid includes pre-flight medical checks and pre-flight preparation.
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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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