Richard Branson Aiming to Revive Virgin Galactic with June Launch of Commercial Flight
Virgin Galactic Holdings, the space-tourism venture owned by billionaire Richard Branson, has revealed the date for its inaugural commercial passenger flight, as it seeks to catch up with rivals SpaceX and Blue Origin. The company had faced numerous delays over the past year, causing it to fall behind its competitors. Although Branson had flown to space in July 2021, the company had failed to follow up with a commercial flight as expected. The announcement of the upcoming flight has been met with enthusiasm from investors, who have pushed the company’s share price up.
The long-awaited Galactic 01 mission will take place on June 27. The company also revealed that it will involve researchers from the Italian Air Force and the Italian National Research Council. In fact, it is a research flight.
Although Virgin has announced the date, it may not fly on it and the company may actually be targeting a flight window between June 27th and 30th.
There was good news for the hundreds of space travelers who have already bought expensive tickets to fly on Virgin’s spacecraft.
Not only the first flight, the company has also revealed that it plans to launch a second flight, Galactic 02, as early as August, with monthly missions thereafter.
It’s not certain, but instead of scientists, the Galactic 02 flight may well be carrying tourists.
Up to 800 people have bought tickets from 66 countries, CEO Michael Colglazier said in a statement.
VSS Unity has flown into space and back 5 times so far.
The Virgin spacecraft is called VSS Unity and will fly out of Spaceport America in New Mexico.
Virgin Galactic shares jumped 40 percent to $5.68 at 7:37 a.m. early in New York, Bloomberg reported. That’s the biggest gain in two years if stocks like the gains.
