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The company reported the flight via social media and shared photos showing the plane gliding and landing on the runway, as well as its special transport aircraft carrying the smallest spacecraft to high altitudes.
After years of construction and testing at the Virgin Galactic base in the Mohawk Desert, California, the company is preparing to begin work on a futuristic-looking terminal and hangar in southern New Mexico. The company has not yet set a date for the start of the first commercial flights, but has expressed the hope that this activity will begin in 2020.
Virgin Galactic needs several more test flights to launch flights capable of acquiring customers to the limit of space. During this flight, the passengers of the spacecraft would experience a few minutes of weightlessness and would see images of planet Earth.
During a suborbital flight, the spacecraft would ascend to an altitude of at least 80.5 km and then land as it descended.
Friday is seen by the company as a major achievement. It was scheduled to take place in February, when the spacecraft and transport plane moved to New Mexico.
This flight provided the first opportunity to test all the necessary elements for the VMS Eve carrier aircraft and spacecraft to take off from their new base. Staff will now analyze the data collected during this test to prepare for the next test flight.
The spacecraft was expanding at a rate of up to 0.7 males. At that time, the pilots performed several maneuvers to verify the aircraft’s control and aerodynamic properties, as well as to better familiarize themselves with the surroundings of the spaceport in New Mexico.
George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic, congratulated his team on an important achievement, especially as the test was conducted in a particularly difficult situation due to the coronavirus epidemic.
“I am grateful for everyone’s dedication, not just for helping [dėl koronaviruso epidemijos] efforts in New Mexico and California, but also for the zeal and creativity that will allow us to continue moving forward safely to start a business, “he emphasized.
Many workers worked remotely at the start of the COVID-19 crisis, and some members of the Virgin Galactic team also contributed to the relief effort. They donated food, protective masks, gloves, and other medical supplies to communities and hospitals in New Mexico and California.
The company also donated more than 60,000. dollars (54.6 thousand euros) for charity projects in New Mexico and develops oxygen masks that can help patients with COVID-19.
“We are following a global mobilization strategy and we are really trying to do everything we can,” Whitesides said.
Over 600 clients around the world have already paid initial contributions for Virgin Galactic’s promised space flights, and more than 8,000. People have declared an interest in them since the first successful suborbital test flight in December 2018.
The first tickets sold for 250 thousand. dollars People who want to declare interest in online flights can pay a contribution of one thousand dollars, which would be refunded if they gave up this option.
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