Virgin Galactic successfully completed a second test flight of its SpaceShipTwo space plane from the company’s New Mexico spaceport on Thursday (June 25), taking the company one step closer to its goal of providing private space flights for paying customers.
The suborbital space plane, called VSS Unity, glided toward Spaceport America from an altitude of 51,000 feet (15,500 meters), where it was released from its WhiteKnightTwo transport plane, called VMS Eve. Aboard VSS Unity were two pilots, Mark ‘Forger’ Stucky and Michael ‘Sooch’ Masucci, both commercial astronauts. Driving the VMS Eve were Nicola Pecile and CJ Sturckow.
While Virgin Galactic has completed several VSS Unit motorless glide test flights before, this is only the second time the test has occurred at Spaceport America. VSS Unity’s first flight from Spaceport America was on May 1; Previous flights took off from Mojave Air and Space Port in southeastern California.
Video: See the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo fly over Spaceport America
Related: How Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Works (Infographic)
“This planned flight, flown at higher speeds, allowed the team to continue evaluating the vehicle’s systems and performance prior to future rocket-powered space flights from the company’s new operational base in New Mexico,” Virgin Galactic said in a statement.
“Flying VSS Unity in glide configuration at higher speeds allows certain vehicle systems to operate close to the environment seen during the rocket’s drive phases on space flight.”
During the flight, the VSS Unity reached a glide speed of Mach 0.85 after being released from the mothership, and the pilots performed a series of maneuvers “to collect data on performance and handling qualities while flying at higher speeds. “Virgin Galactic said. “These data will be verified against similar maneuvers that were performed on the previous glide flight to improve aerodynamic modeling.”
Virgin Galactic currently sells tickets for commercial flights aboard SpaceShipTwo for $ 250,000, and the company has sold more than 600 tickets. It is unclear exactly when the first commercial flights will begin. The company has said that flights could start as soon as this year.
Email Hanneke Weitering at [email protected] or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom and in Facebook.
