Last Flight Test For 2016 Was A Successful Run

There was no notice, and little fanfare. Thursday afternoon, Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides Tweeted: "Second glide flight of VSS Unity completed. Well done to the pilots and the whole crew. Great way to end the year!"

SpaceNews reports that the suborbital spacecraft was carried aloft by WhiteKnightTwo from California's Mojave Air and Space Port several hours before Whiteside's announcement. It glided successfully back to the runway to wrap up the flight test program for 2016.

Virgin Galactic is looking ahead to multiple glide tests in 2017. Company president Mike Moses said earlier this year that there is no set number of glide tests that will be performed before the first powered flight of VSS Unity, but he anticipates that will come sometime in 2017. Moses said the program would "start slow," but "once that's under our belts, we'll punch through to full duration, expand the envelope, and look at all the off-nominal conditions that can occur.”

The company has also learned its lesson about telling the public when it might begin commercial operations. The program has been plagued by years of delays, but so far, very few customers have asked for a refund on their deposits.

(Image from George Whitesides Tweet)

FMI: www.virgingalactic.com