Watch Live Virgin Galactic’s first space tourism flight launches
Virgin Galactic has taken its first tourists on a sub-orbital spaceflight after years of delays, including one passenger who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean.
The flight window opened on this (Thursday) morning at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert for a ride to near the edge of space.
With the flight a resounding success, Richard Branson’s company will now look to offer monthly trips to customers on its winged space plane, joining Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space tourism business.
Virgin Galactic passenger Jon Goodwin, who was among the first to buy a ticket in 2005, said he had faith that he would someday make the trip.
The 80-year-old British Olympian — he competed in canoeing in 1972 — has Parkinson’s disease and wants to be an inspiration to others.
“I hope it shows them that these obstacles can be the start rather than the end to new adventures,” he said in a statement.
Goodwin has said he paid $200,000 for his ticket. The cost is now $450,000.
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KEY EVENTS
VSS Unity has returned to Earth
The spaceplane — having concluded its journey to the edge of space — landed back at Spaceport America at 9.33am local time, to a round of applause from its passengers.
Roaring up towards space
Shots from the Virgin Galactic live stream show the rocket-powered spaceplane roaring up towards space.
Virgin Galactic tweeted: “Welcome back to Earth, #Galactic02! Our pilots, crew and spaceship have landed smoothly at Spaceport America, New Mexico.”
The VSS Unity has been released
The spaceplane is now vertical and heading into space — with the astronauts now clear to unstrap and enjoy weightlessness.
Two minutes out from release
The L-4 minute checks have been completed and the spaceplane is ready for release in around 90 seconds.
Just over three minutes from release
Final checks are being undertaken prior to release in a few minutes.
Inside the cabin
Virgin Galactic has shown footage from the cabin of the VSS Unity — where the astronauts can be seen gazing at the view throught the craft’s portholes.
The craft is currently flying at a zipping mach 0.5 — or 384 miles per hour.
‘Everything is looking fantastic’
For those following along at home, the livestream has begun.
The spaceplane is already in the air — and at the target launch altitude of 44,500 feet — following what Mission Insights Specialist Jonathan Ritchie called a “perfect takeoff”.
He added: “Everything is looking fantastic.”
Cheered on by family
Among the crowds cheering on from Spaceport America is Mr Goodwin’s wife, Pauline Goodwin.
Excitement as astronauts prepared for boarding
The astronauts were looking jubilant as they headed out to board the VSS Unity for today’s flight.
The VSS Unity
The craft flying on today’s mission is the VSS Unity, a “SpaceShipTwo”-class suborbital, rocket-powered spaceplane.
It is capable of reaching an altitude of above 50 miles — which is “space” in the eyes of NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the US Air Force.
Unity conducted her first flight on September 8, 2016, and made her first trip into space on the VP-03 mission on December 13, 2018.
I’m ‘living life to the fullest’, says astronaut
Mr Goodwin has said that he hopes his trip inspires others.
He explained: “From becoming an Olympian to canoeing between the peaks of Annapurna, to winning a six day race in the Arctic Circle, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro — and cycling back down! — I’ve always enjoyed rising to new challenges.
“When I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2014, I was determined not to let it stand in the way of living life to the fullest.
“And now for me to go to space with Parkinson’s is completely magical.
“I hope this inspires all others facing adversity and shows them that challenges don’t have to inhibit or stop them from pursuing their dreams.”
Astronauts are ‘role models’, says Virgin Galactic CEO
On today’s flight, Michael Colglazier said: “This flight highlights two of Virgin Galactic’s core aspirations – increasing access to space and inspiring people around the world.
“Each of these astronauts are role models and beacons of inspiration in their communities.
“Watching Keisha, Ana and Jon embark on this transformative experience helps demonstrate that space is now opening to a broader and more diverse population across the globe.”
Following on from Galactic 01
Today’s “Galactic 02” mission comes in the wake of Virgin Galactic’s previous launch back in late June.
The flight, which also took off from Spaceport America, was a research mission for the Italian Air Force.
It carried pilots Michael Masucci and Nicola Pecile, and crew members Colin Bennett, Walter Villadei, Angelo Landolfi, and Pantaleone Carlucci.
During the 90-minute-long flight, which enjoyed a few minutes of weightlessness, the crew conducted a series of microgravity-related experiments.
The “VSS Unity” spaceplane reached an altitude of more than 52 miles — “space” as defined by the NASA, but a little shy of the “Kármán line” regarded as the edge of space by the Fédération aéronautique internationale— before gliding back down to land.
Following the successful mission, Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said: “This historic flight was our first commercial flight and our first dedicated commercial research mission —ushering in a new era of repeatable and reliable access to space for private passengers and researchers.”
Best wishes from across the pond
Matt Archer, Launch Director at the UK Space Agency, said: “Today’s launch marks an exciting milestone for the global space sector, and especially for Virgin Galactic.
“We at the UK Space Agency wish them all the best after what has been a long and difficult journey that demonstrates just how tough launching into space can be.
“A huge amount of work goes into developing launch capabilities and, while space tourism is an interesting part of it, there is an incredibly diverse range of business and career opportunities that need people of all backgrounds and skillsets.
“In the UK alone, we have almost 50,000 people working in the space sector and our plan is to become the leading provider of small satellite launch in Europe by 2030 — providing world-leading services, bringing new markets to the UK and inspiring the next generation of British space professionals.”
How to watch today’s launch
Virgin Galactic is providing a dedicated livestream of today’s launch.
The space tourism company has said that the countdown “will begin just before spaceship release” at 11:00 ET.
The stream can be watched in the video above, or on either the Virgin Galactic website, or via the Virgin Galactic YouTube channel.
Good afternoon
Good afternoon. I’m Ian Randall and I’ll be taking over from Aurora to bring you the latest on today’s ‘Galactic 02’ launch.
Where is Virgin Galactic’s flight launching from?
Richard Branson’s first space tourism flight will be launching from Spaceport America in New Mexico.
The spaceport was built on 18,000 acres of state trust land in the Jornada del Murto desert basin.
The basis is approximately 20 miles southeast of the town of Truth or Consequences.
With Virgin Galactic starting operations at the spaceport, New Mexico became the third US state to launch humans into space with California and Florida.
Who is on Virgin Galactic’s space tourism flight? Meet the crew and passengers onboard
A Virgin Galactic space is due to fly from New Mexico carrying an 80-year-old British former Olympian, an Aberdeen student, and her mother into space.
It marks a special moment in history as the first flight for a paying ‘space tourist”, with hundreds of tickets already sold since they were put on sale by Sir Richard Branson’s firm over a decade ago.
Some buyers have forked out up to $450,000 for the opportunity to go into sub-orbit.
Anastasia Mayers and her mother Keisha Schahaff won the tickets to board the much-anticipated flight in a competition and will soon become the first mother-and-daughter duo to go to space.
Jon Goodwin, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, will become the second person with Parkinson’s disease to do the same.
This mission will be seen as a test of how viable space tourism really is.
The launch window for the Virgin Galactic 02 flight opens at 08.30 local time. It is Virgin Galactic’s second commercial flight. The first was in June when the Italian Air Force and scientists conducted experiments in weightless conditions on a 70-minute mission.
Good afternoon
Good afternoon from London. I’m Aurora Bosotti, I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments on the Virgin Galactic launch. Please feel free to get in touch with me as I work if you have a story or tips to share! Your thoughts are always welcome.
Email: [email protected]
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