After the successful final test flight of the VSS Unity spacecraft at the end of May, Virgin Galactic has finally received the green light for commercial spaceflight. Their first – “Galactic 01” – was successfully held at the end of June. True, with this mission such a real space tourism business was not yet started, since the Italian Air Force participated in it, which conducted microgravity research. However, the next mission – “Galactic 02” – will certainly mark the beginning of “Virgin Galactic” space tourism, and it will take place in a couple of weeks, on August 10.
Galactic 02 is expected to carry three passengers, although only one of them is a paying customer. Virgin Galactic’s first paying passenger is 80-year-old former Olympian John Goodwin. On the other hand, Keisha Shahaf and her daughter Anastasia Myers won the remaining two tickets as part of the charity fund-raising campaign for the non-profit organization “Space for Humanity”. Virgin Galactic’s head of astronaut training Beth Mose will also join the trio. The flight is expected to last 90 minutes.
Although Virgin Galactic faced a series of complications and problems in previous years, due to which both test flights and the launch of space tourism had to be postponed, the company has become more active in recent months. Galactic 02 is Virgin Galactic’s seventh spaceflight of any kind, but its third this year. The company says it wants to hold regular, monthly spaceflights, which will be especially encouraged if Galactic 02 goes well. Virgin Galactic’s ultimate goal is 400 space flights a year.
Regular private space flights would also significantly improve the company’s financial situation. “Virgin Galactic” has been operating with losses for years, the amount of which exceeded half a billion dollars last year alone. The company still has to work hard to become profitable and continue to actively market the $450,000 space flight tickets.
2023-07-19 05:30:00
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