Space & Astronomy

Virgin Galactic set to resume test flights

By T.K. Randall
July 11, 2016

Image: White Knight Two and SpaceShipTwo
Credit: Jeff Foust / CC BY 2.0 (adapted) Things hadn't been looking good for the company after its previous suborbital spaceplane - the VSS Enterprise - was lost during an ill-fated test flight which resulted in the death of a pilot back in 2014.

Not willing to let this setback deter them, the team worked hard to get things back on track, an effort culminating in the reveal of VSS Unity - a new and improved version of the SpaceShipTwo design.Now after a further five months of work, Virgin Galactic is preparing to resume test flights in the hope of eventually reaching its goal of becoming the world's first commercial space tourism company.

Unity will take to the skies next month on the back of a separate aircraft as part of a multi-stage approach to sending the vehicle to the edge of space over 100km above the Earth's surface.

When the firm does eventually open its doors however the price for a seat, which stands at $250,000, will be prohibitively expensive for all but the most wealthy of space tourists.


Source: Engadget

Tags: Virgin Galactic, SpaceShipTwo