Different approaches to launch and landing Including NASA's first two Mercury missions, 13 X-15 test flights above 50 miles and three 2004 flights by a precursor to Virgin's spaceplane, Branson's flight will be the 23rd sub-orbital launch since 1961. Two more test flights are believed to be planned before commercial operations commence. Sunday's flight will be Virgin's fourth piloted sub-orbital spaceflight, all of them test missions, and the 22nd flight of VSS Unity overall. On July 11, it’s time to turn that dream into a reality aboard the next spaceflight #Unity22 /GWskcMSXyA- Richard Branson July 1, 2021 My mum taught me to never give up and to reach for the stars. He said he was "honored to help validate the journey our future astronauts will undertake and ensure we deliver the unique customer experience people expect from Virgin."Īnd Branson insists he's not in any sort of "space race" with Bezos or SpaceX founder Elon Musk. "After more than 16 years of research, engineering and testing, Virgin Galactic stands at the vanguard of a new commercial space industry, which is set to open space to humankind and change the world for good." "I truly believe that space belongs to all of us," Branson said in a statement. Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity spaceplane, rocketing out of the lower atmosphere on a sub-orbital test flight. The launching will mark the first with non-professional "passengers" on board, giving the British tycoon billionaire bragging rights in the commercial space arena. Later that same day, Virgin announced that Branson planned to blast off on July 11 along with five company employees. Blue Origin then announced that aviation pioneer Wally Funk, 82, who was one of the women barred from NASA's initially all-male astronaut corps, will also join the crew. They will be joined on board by the as-yet-unidentified winner of an online auction who bid $28 million for the opportunity. "I want to go on this flight because it's the thing I've wanted to do all my life. It's one Earth," Bezos said in an Instagram post announcing his flight. "You see the Earth from space that changes you, it changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity. Then, on June 7, Bezos announced that he planned to blast off on the July 20 flight of New Shepard, along with his brother Mark and several others. On May 5 - the 60th anniversary of Alan Shepard's flight to become the first American in space - the company announced its next test flight, on July 20, would carry its first crew. Two weeks earlier, Blue Origin carried out the 15th successful test flight of the New Shepard spacecraft, all of them unpiloted. Two more piloted test flights to space were launched in 2019 and this past May 22. Virgin won the initial race to space with people on board on December 13, 2018, when VSS Unity carried two pilots out of the atmosphere. "If I weigh up everything I have ever taken on, this is the biggest task, and if we can pull it off, it will be my proudest achievement," Branson wrote. Some 600 enthusiasts have put down refundable deposits for flights aboard Virgin's spaceplane, many of them reserving seats shortly after the company's founding in 2004. Neither company has said how much it will cost for a ride to space, but tickets are expected to run in the neighborhood of $250,000 to $500,000. Virgin Atlantic, owned by fellow billionaire Richard Branson, will carry passengers above the 50-mile-high altitude recognized by NASA and the FAA. Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, seen here with company owner Jeff Bezos, will boost passengers on sub-orbital trips above the internationally recognized 62-mile-high "boundary" of space. Virgin Galactic and Bezos' Blue Origin are competing head to head in the emerging space tourism marketplace, both offering short up-and-down rides just above the aerodynamically discernible atmosphere for a few minutes of weightlessness and spectacular views of Earth and the deep black of outer space.īlue Origin will fly a bit higher, while Virgin Galactic's flights will last longer.Īlong with wealthy space tourists, both companies expect to fly researchers and experiments from government agencies and companies developing or testing space technology.
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