After nearly two decades of hard work and determination, Virgin Galactic, the brainchild of British billionaire Richard Branson, is poised to embark on its maiden commercial spaceflight. This exciting advancement in space tourism signifies a significant milestone for the company founded back in 2004.
The inaugural journey will carry a crew of three from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy. The fourth seat will be filled by a Virgin Galactic astronaut instructor. This venture, named Galactic 01, is slated to depart from Spaceport America in New Mexico. The company reveals that the 90-minute mission involves several suborbital science experiments.
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The significant event comes close to two years after Branson himself voyaged to the edge of space in a test flight. This adventurous endeavor was intended to set the stage for a fresh epoch of profitable space tourism. However, Virgin Galactic experienced a few bumps along the road, including a temporary grounding by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA’s intervention followed its discovery that the flight carrying Branson had veered from its designated airspace, and the company had failed to report this deviation as required.
Further investigation revealed that certain materials used in the construction of the company’s spacecraft were not meeting the necessary strength standards. These findings necessitated improvements to the fleet. Despite these setbacks, Virgin Galactic recommenced its space flights with a successful test in May, thus opening the path for this upcoming mission.
Virgin Galactic’s unique approach to space travel involves using a “mothership” aircraft with two pilots. This craft takes off from a runway, climbs to a high altitude, and then releases a rocket-powered plane which accelerates into space at nearly three times the speed of sound before returning to Earth. This offers passengers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience weightlessness and view the curvature of the Earth from over 80 kilometers above the surface.
The crew for this pioneering flight consists of Colonel Walter Villadei and Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Landolf from the Italian Air Force, Pantaleone Carlucci from the National Research Council of Italy, and Colin Bennett from Virgin Galactic. Alongside them will be two pilots each on the spaceplane and the mothership.
The mission involves conducting 13 experiments, both supervised and autonomous, and data collection on the suits and sensors in the cabin. These experiments range from measuring radiation levels in the little-studied mesosphere to observing how liquids and solids mix in microgravity.
Virgin Galactic has reportedly sold approximately 800 tickets for its future commercial flights, with prices ranging from US$200,000 to US$450,000. Despite a tragic incident in 2014 where a test flight resulted in a mid-air spaceplane disintegration, causing one death and seriously injuring another, the interest in these flights hasn’t dwindled. Celebrities and movie stars were among the earliest patrons.
The company is a notable competitor in the “suborbital” space tourism sector, vying against Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, which has already transported 32 people to space. However, Blue Origin has been grounded since an accident during an unmanned flight in September 2022.
This news is based on the Malay Mail.
