Is this progress for humanity? The first commercial flight of space tourism company Virgin Galactic reached space on Thursday, the company founded by billionaire Richard Branson announced. The American company, founded in 2004, had already reached space five times, but so far with only members of the company on board. The ship, VSS Unity, was carrying four passengers here: two senior Italian Air Force officers, an engineer from the Italian National Research Council (CNR), and an accompanying Virgin Galactic employee. Two pilots were also at the controls.
The spacecraft exceeded 80 kilometers in altitude, the limit marking the beginning of space according to the American army, announced a commentator in the direct video of the company. “Welcome to space, astronauts,” said Sirisha Bandla, a Virgin Galactic employee who made the trip herself. Once in weightlessness, an Italian flag was unfurled in the cabin.
A rocket plane similar to a big jet
The mission, called Galactic 01, took off from the base of Spaceport America, in the desert of the American state of New Mexico. A huge carrier plane took off at 8:30 a.m. from a conventional runway. About an hour later, some 15 km up, he dropped the craft, a rocket plane that looks like a large private jet.
It then turned on its engine and accelerated vertically. For a few minutes in weightlessness, the passengers were able to detach themselves from their seat and float in the cabin. Then the ship came down again while hovering to land on the same runway.
Richard Branson himself had made this brief space trip in July 2021, almost two years ago. The United States Aviation Agency (FAA) then temporarily grounded the spacecraft to investigate a course deviation during this highly publicized flight. Then Virgin Galactic announced a pause in its operations, dedicated to improving its machine, which lasted much longer than expected.
In May, the company finally completed its final test flight before commencing commercial operations. These have been expected for years. About 800 customers, including some celebrities, have already bought their ticket, for a price initially between 200,000 and 250,000 dollars per passenger, before being raised to 450,000 dollars.
A second mission in August
Virgin Galactic’s space program has been years behind schedule, in part due to an accident in 2014 that killed a pilot. Thursday’s flight was presented as having a scientific vocation, several experiments having been carried out on board (on the behavior of liquids in weightlessness, the bodily reaction of passengers, etc.).
“Virgin Galactic’s research missions will open a new era of repeated and reliable access to space for government and research institutions,” said company CEO Michael Colglazier before the flight. After a second mission (Galactic 02) in August, Virgin Galactic promises space flights every month.
The company competes with billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, which also offers short suborbital flights and has already sent 32 people into space. But since an accident in September 2022 during an unmanned flight, its rocket has been grounded. Blue Origin promised in March to resume spaceflight “soon”.