Xorte logo

News Markets Groups

USA | Europe | Asia | World| Stocks | Commodities



Add a new RSS channel

 
 


Keywords

2023-05-25 18:31:50| Engadget

Virgin Galactic is finally on the cusp of launching its space tourism business. After a late start, the company has completed its last VSS Unity flight test before commercial service starts. The Unity 25 mission tested both technical functionality and the overall experience for astronauts, and reached space at roughly 12:26PM Eastern. The launch also made a little history: crew member Jamila Gilbert became the first female astronaut from New Mexico, according to Virgin. Gilbert and fellow crewmates Chris Huie, Luke Mays and Beth Moses are all Virgin employees.The company has delayed this test multiple times. The final delay stemmed from difficulties upgrading the VMS Eve host aircraft, which ferries Unity to 50,000 feet. Virgin completed an unpowered test flight in late April, but its first crewed flight dates back to July 2021, when founder Richard Branson joined Moses, Sirisha Bandla and Colin Bennett for Unity 22. Unity 25 is Virgin's fifth spaceflight of any kind.The successful test is important for Virgin. It has operated at a loss for years as it kept pushing back its space tourism plans, and lost over $500 million in 2022 alone. While the company hasn't said when it expects to fly paying customers, it needs those passengers' $450,000 tickets to help recoup its investment. Now, it's more a matter of firming up details than overcoming technological hurdles.Virgin trails Blue Origin, which is already launching civilians into space. It's closer to passenger spaceflights than SpaceX, though. While Elon Musk's outfit announced its lunar tourism plans years ago, it has yet to send a Starship rocket into space with crew aboard. Not that SpaceX is necessarily concerned. Virgin is focused on less ambitious (if also less expensive) suborbital flights where Starship will be used for both tourists' lunar orbits and NASA's Moon landings.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/virgin-galactic-completes-its-final-vss-unity-flight-test-before-space-tourism-debut-163150722.html?src=rss


Category: Marketing and Advertising

 

Latest from this category

28.03You can now use your phone to get started with Amazons palm-reading tech
28.03Vizio just announced a $999 86-inch 4K TV
28.03Sam Bankman-Fried just got sentenced to 25 years in prison
28.03Google reverses course and brings its Gemini AI to the regular Pixel 8
28.03Take-Two is buying Gearbox from Embracer for $460 million
28.03Tamagotchi Uni finally feels complete after its biggest update yet
28.03Meta and Google face claims of restricting reproductive health ads and fueling misinformation
28.03Microsoft Copilot AI will soon run locally on PCs
Marketing and Advertising »

All news

28.03You can now use your phone to get started with Amazons palm-reading tech
28.03Elgin companys machine one of eight products in running for Coolest Thing Made in Illinois
28.03Post-Brexit tax to hit UK car exports to Canada
28.03Aurora Realtor to be featured on HGTVs House Hunters show this weekend
28.03Secret papers show Post Office knew case was false
28.03Morning Market Internals
28.03Monday's Earnings/Economic Releases of Note; Market Movers
28.03Worldwide: Webinar: It's Complicated: Estate Planning And Administration For The Modern Family - O'Sullivan Estate Lawyers LLP
More »
Privacy policy . Copyright . Contact form .