New Delhi: Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic is all set to launch its next crewed flight to the edge of space by the end of May, and then its first commercial flight in June, the company has announced. Unity 25 is the company’s fifth space flight and the company’s first in nearly two years. “#VirginGalactic returning to space in late May,” the company said on Twitter.
Unity 25 will be the company’s “final evaluation of the complete space flight system and astronaut experience” before `Galactic 01`, its first commercial flight scheduled for “late June”. However, the space tourism company did not give a specific date. The company has reportedly sold about 800 tickets, including 600 at prices ranging from $200,000 to $250,000 and 200 at prices between $450,000 and $450,000, which is the current ticket price.
Unity 25 will carry two pilots and four Virgin Galactic employees – Beth Moses, Luke Mays, Jamila Gilbert and Christopher Hui – to the edge of space. The new launch will involve the use of two of the company’s vehicles: VSS Unity – for the crew and VMS Eve – the mothership that carries Unity into space.
After reaching an altitude of approximately 50,000 feet, Eve leaves Unity, allowing passengers to experience a few moments of weightlessness before the spacecraft makes its way into sub-orbital space.
The last Virgin Galactic spaceflight took place in July 2021 and carried Virgin CEO Richard Branson along with three other employees. Over the past two years, the space tourism company lost money and its sister satellite launching company Virgin Orbit went bankrupt in April.