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SPACEPORT AMERICA

Virgin Galactic ready to aim for space once more

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 A flight window for SpaceShipTwo Unity to complete its delayed flight to space opens Feb. 13, with opportunities to fly throughout February, pending good weather conditions and technical readiness. The test flight will be crewed by two pilots and will carry research payloads as part of the NASA Flight Opportunities program, according to a Virgin Galactic press release.

“We are pleased to be able to get back to the skies and continue our flight test program,” said Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier.

The flight, originally attempted on Dec. 12, 2020, from Spaceport America, was aborted when an onboard computer halted ignition of the rocket motor. The release says a key objective of the upcoming flight is to test the remedial work that has been completed since the aborted flight. The team has conducted the root-cause analysis, completed the corrective work required, and carried out extensive ground testing. The next stage will be to assess and verify the work during a rocket-powered flight.

Preparations have included rigorous steps to prepare the vehicles, pilots, teams and facilities, with safety procedures as a top priority. In addition, the Virgin Galactic Pilot Corps has completed two flights with its mothership, VMS Eve, for routine pilot-proficiency training. This training included using the mothership to simulate the glide and approach-to-land phase of flight for SpaceShipTwo, showing the versatility of VMS Eve as more than just a mothership. 

The flight will incorporate all of the original test objectives from the previous test flight, including evaluating elements of the customer cabin, testing the live stream capability from the spaceship to the ground, and assessing the upgraded horizontal stabilizers and flight controls during the boost phase of the flight.

Following this flight, the company hopes to return to its ambitions of putting four company employees, including the pilots, into space to take care of final comforts and arrangements for passengers and final checks. Then sending up the first passenger flight, which includes Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson and others.

Virgin Galactic, Spaceport America

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