- Virgin Galactic completes first commercial space flight
- Italian crew members unfurl flag during zero-gravity portion
- Plans for future commercial flights and customer backlog
Before the return to Earth, the three crew members of Galactic 01 were observed unfurling an Italian flag during the zero-gravity portion of the flight.
Virgin Galactic has completed its first commercial space flight.
Galactic 01 transported a crew of six on its approximately 90-minute journey to the outskirts of space.
A rocket was launched from an aircraft at a height of approximately 50,000 feet before its engine ignited and propelled it to an altitude of approximately 50 miles.
The crew included three Italians – two Italian air force colonels and an aerospace engineer from the National Research Council of Italy – in addition to their Virgin Galactic instructor and the two pilots of the spacecraft.
The voyage, which departed from Spaceport America in New Mexico, was a research mission, and the crew was scheduled to conduct thirteen scientific experiments.
After achieving weightlessness, the passengers unfurled an Italian flag to commemorate 100 years of the Italian air force before returning to their seats for the return to Earth.
Thursday at approximately 4.45 pm UK time, the spaceship VSS Unity landed successfully back on the runway. Virgin Galactic tweeted, “Welcome back to Earth, #Galactic01! Our pilots, personnel, and spacecraft have landed without incident.”
While the Galactic 01 is being billed as Virgin Galactic’s first commercial flight, there are no paying passengers on board. However, an August flight will transport paying passengers.
According to Virgin Galactic, its first commercial spaceflight ushers in a new era of privately funded, government-supervised research missions.
The company has spent years preparing to send paying passengers on short space trips. In 2021, it eventually received federal approval and in May of that year, it conducted its final test flight.
The space flight collected data via external payloads and sensors, as well as autonomous payloads attached to the cabin.
After a UK failure, Sir Richard’s Virgin Orbit declared its closure a month before the launch.
Virgin Galactic anticipates flying again in early August, with monthly voyages thereafter, if all goes as planned.
The corporation has already accumulated an order backlog of 800 customers, charging between $250,000 and $450,000 per seat.
