Virgin Galactic’s first commercial flight reached space on Thursday with three Italian scientists on board. Billionaire Richard Branson’s company is joining the race for space tourism.
It was a suborbital flight. The Unity’s occupants will not enter orbit, but they will be weightless for several minutes. The spacecraft was launched from an aircraft at an altitude of 15 kilometers. The Unity itself then rose further to more than 80 kilometers. After about 75 minutes, the plane was back on the ground in Spaceport America, in the US state of New Mexico.
The crew consisted of three Italians: Walter Villadei, Angelo Landolfi and Pantaleone Carlucci. A ‘scientific team’, is how Reuters news agency describes them. They mainly had to collect data. For Villadei, the flight is also a training flight, because he will soon be heading to the International Space Station. There were also three crew members on board.
Walter Villadei, Pantaleone Carlucci and Angelo Landolfi are allowed to fly to the edge of space. Photo: Reuters
Virgin Galactic had so far only reached space with members of its own company as passengers. The launch was preceded by 20 years of work.
The next commercial launch is scheduled for early August “with private astronauts,” Virgin Galactic said. Tickets for the journey, which takes about an hour and a half, cost between $250,000 and $450,000, according to the company.
2023-06-29 16:53:00
#Virgin #Galactic #lands #safely #commercial #flight #Branson #rejoins #battle #space #tourist
