LOS ANGELES (AP) – Virgin Galactic said Thursday it expects to launch its first man-powered test flight into space from New Mexico this month.
The company’s spacecraft, VSS Unity, conducted two previous test space flights from Mojave, California, before entering its facilities at Spaceport America in New Mexico. The test there includes unpowered glide flights and is now a spaceflight scheduled between 19 and 23 November.
Starting next year with billionaire founder Richard Branson, Spaceport will be the backbone of Virgin Galactic to launch passengers on a short journey above Earth. The company has not announced a specific date for that event.
The Unity is designed to carry loudly under a special carrier jet and is released at high altitudes, where its rocket engine is lit.
Suborbital flights are designed to send the craft down an altitude of way0 miles (gl0 kilometers) before landing and landing on the runway.
In addition to passengers, Unity can do small science experiments and receive some revenue through the NASA program in this month’s flight.
Virgin Galactic has also made progress on a second spaceship in its planned fleet and plans to roll it out in the first quarter of 2021, CEO Michael Colglazier said in a statement.
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