SPACE
When is the Virgin Galactic commercial spaceflight launch? How to stream online
Headed by Sir Richard Branson, Virgin aims to break into the commercial space market and it will be able to be streamed for free.
After nearly two decades of trials, Virgin Galactic gets its commercial missions underway today. Thursday 29 June, 2023, marks the first launch for the group as it seeks to make up ground with SpaceX and Blue Origin in the race to be the market leader for paid space travel.
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Two Italian air force officers and an aerospace engineer from the National Research Council of Italy are to join their Virgin Galactic instructor and the spaceplane’s two pilots. Customers will pay nearly half a million dollars for the chance to touch space in what is to be monthly commercil flights; Thursday’s is reported to be scientific.
Virgin Galactic’s flagship spacecraft is called SpaceShipTwo, also known as VSS Unity. SpaceShipTwo is designed to carry a crew of two pilots and up to six passengers. It is launched from a carrier aircraft called WhiteKnightTwo and released at a high altitude. After separation, the rocket engines of SpaceShipTwo ignite, propelling the spacecraft to the edge of space.
The company encountered a major setback during its development and testing phase in 2014 when the VSS Enterprise, a prototype of SpaceShipTwo, experienced a catastrophic failure during a test flight. The spacecraft was destroyed and the main test pilot, Michael Alsbury, was killed. After the destruction of the OceanGate submarine last week there will no doubt be significant nerves.
How to stream online
Events will begin at 11 a.m. ET (9 a.m. local time in New Mexico) on Virgin Galactic’s website.
There will also be a livestream on YouTube, beginning an hour before launch.