Virgin Galactic will make its first commercial flight at the end of June

Last week, Virgin Galactic announced its prediction for the first commercial space flight, Scheduled to take place in a window from 27-30 June. Billionaire Richard Branson’s space company has named the first commercial launch “Galactic 01”, and the date for the second flight has also been set.

The mission will be launched at the Spaceport America commercial base in New Mexico and interested parties must pay US$450,000 (approximately R$2.1 million at current prices) to participate in the flight. The goal, according to the company, is to launch one a week, possibly starting in 2026.

Virgin Galactic will carry three crew members from the Italian Air Force and the Italian National Research Council to conduct microgravity experiments on this first commercial mission. The second flight, “Galactic 02”, will take place in early August, after which the company plans to launch monthly..

“Galactic 01, a scientific research mission, will carry three crew members from the Italian Air Force and the Italian National Research Council to conduct microgravity research. With the scientific payloads on board, spaceflight will demonstrate the value and power of the scientific laboratory’s unique suborbital ground. ,” detailed in the official statement about the flight.

Virgin Galactic commercial flight

It’s important to note that the flight is suborbital, meaning it doesn’t actually leave Earth’s orbit. The crew will be sent to the VMS Eve transport aircraft on a flight to an altitude of 15,000 meters, after which the carrier will unleash the VSS Unity spaceplane, which will trigger a rocket and be sent into suborbital space.

.@VirginGalactic announced the start of commercial spaceflight service with #galactic01 Big congratulations to the team, who are very excited as our astronauts fly this month to encourage more people to gaze at the stars. https://t.co/MDJjwKQj74 pic.twitter.com/9NtxSdDJMo

—Richard Branson (@richardbranson) 15 June 2023

In a Twitter post, Branson said, “Virgin Galactic is announcing the launch of commercial spaceflight service with Galactic Flight 01 this month. Big congratulations to our team, we are very excited as our astronauts will encourage more people to gaze at the stars.”

Passengers will enjoy the microgravity experience by staying just a few minutes in the suborbital space – in addition to the passengers, the mission will carry two pilots. Soon after, Unity will start flying back to Earth.

So far, Virgin Galactic has performed five missions to test the spaceplane, including stopping testing for a few months to carry out maintenance and improvements to Unity. Following the news about commercial flights, the company’s shares began to rise; Since the beginning of 2023, the value has already increased by 16%.