Mon, Sep 11, 2023
‘Galactic 04,’ the Company’s Next Commercial Spaceflight Planned for Early October
Virgin Galactic completed its second private space tourist astronaut flight, ‘Galactic 03.’ The mission flew three of Virgin Galactic’s first customers. ‘Galactic 03’ was Virgin Galactic’s fourth successful spaceflight in the past four months, and the third flight of Virgin Galactic’s inaugural commercial spaceflight season.
The flight followed the Company’s first research mission in June and first private mission in August.
Onboard ’Galactic 03’:
- Ken Baxter from the United States of America
- Timothy Nash from South Africa, and British Citizen
- Adrian Reynard from the United Kingdom
Spaceship VSS Unity was piloted by Commander Nicola Pecile and Pilot Michael Masucci; Chief Instructor Beth Moses was also on board. Mothership VMS Eve was piloted by Commander Jameel Janjua and Pilot Kelly Latimer.
‘Galactic 03’ in-flight facts:
- Take-off Time: 8:34 AM MT
- Altitude at Release: 44,867 feet
- Apogee: 55 miles
- Top Speed: Mach 2.95
- Landing Time: 9:36 AM MT
Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic, said: “What a thrilling day for our three new private astronauts and the entire team at Virgin Galactic. It’s an honor to see our ‘Galactic 03’ crew realize their lifelong dreams of spaceflight as they inspire our manifest of Future Astronauts. Each successful flight shows how powerful and personally transformative space travel can be, and we look forward to scaling our operations and making space travel more accessible to people around the world.”
The Company will now proceed with post-flight inspections and analysis in preparation for the next commercial space mission, ‘Galactic 04,’ which is planned for early October.
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