Virgin Galactic | The Verge

Virgin Galactic reveals crew members for the company’s first commercial spaceflight

2023-06-26T14:50:04-04:00

Virgin Galactic has revealed the crew members who will be aboard the upcoming "Galactic 01" mission on June 29th, the company's first fully commercial crewed spaceflight. Announced on Monday, Colin Bennett, Virgin Galactic's lead astronaut instructor, will be joined by Walter Villadei and Angelo Landolfi - two senior members of the Italian airforce - and Pantaleone Carlucci, a pilot and technical engineer from the National Research Council of Italy.

If the mission is successful, Virgin Galactic could soon start competing with rival companies offering commercial passenger flights into space, such as SpaceX and the Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origi …

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Virgin Galactic’s next crewed flight will blast to the edge of space later this month

2023-05-08T17:03:34-04:00

Virgin Galactic is gearing up for its first crewed flight in nearly two years. The space tourism company announced that it will launch its Unity 25 crew into space later this month but didn't provide a specific date.

The upcoming spaceflight is "the final assessment of the full spaceflight system and astronaut experience" ahead of Virgin Galactic's first commercial flight that's planned for the end of June. Unity 25 marks the company's fifth spaceflight and will launch four Virgin Galactic employees - Beth Moses, Luke Mays, Jamila Gilbert, and Christopher Huie - to the edge of space.

#VirginGalactic is returning to space in late May. Meet …

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Virgin Orbit to cease all operations and lay off 85 percent of its workforce

2023-03-31T06:58:09-04:00

Virgin Orbit was notable for launching its LauncherOne rocket from midair using Cosmic Girl, a converted Boeing 747. | Image: Virgin Orbit

Update May 25, 2:41PM ET: Virgin Orbit has fully ceased operations, selling its remaining assets and gear at auction.

Virgin Orbit, the satellite-launching subsidiary of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, has announced that it will lay off 85 percent of its workforce and is ceasing operations "for the foreseeable future." The company, which aimed to provide a more affordable option for launching small satellites into orbit, had been struggling to secure funding to stay afloat and compete with larger players in the private space industry like SpaceX and Blue Origin.

The news comes two months after its most recent mission in Cornwall, UK failed …

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Virgin Orbit scrubs first night launch due to propellant temperature being ‘out of bounds’

2022-06-30T11:39:12-04:00

Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl, with LauncherOne under its wing | Image: Virgin Orbit

Small satellite launcher Virgin Orbit postponed its first night launch on Wednesday after finding that the temperature of its rocket propellant was "slightly out of bounds." The company is figuring out when to move ahead with the launch in the next few days.

This mission - called "Straight Up" in homage to the 1988 song by Paula Abdul - is for the US Space Force and will carry seven small satellites for the Space Test Program. It'll be the fifth mission for Virgin Orbit and the second one since the company went public through a SPAC merger. The launch was originally set to occur out of Mojave, California, during a launch window that opened …

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Virgin Galactic plans to open ticket sales to the public for flights to edge of space

2022-02-15T09:49:36-05:00

Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity gliding to a runway | Image: Virgin Galactic

Space tourism company Virgin Galactic announced its plans to open up ticket sales to the general public on Wednesday, February 16th, giving people an opportunity to buy a ride on the venture's spaceplane that takes customers to the edge of space and back.

Tickets will run interested customers a cool $450,000. In order to secure their seat, people must pay a $150,000 deposit and then pay the remaining $300,000 before flight. Virgin Galactic has an application that individuals can fill out on the company's website.

Tickets will run interested customers a cool $450,000

Ticket sales may be opening soon, but it could be a while before customers …

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Virgin Orbit launches first satellite mission after SPAC merger

2022-01-13T19:05:14-05:00

Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl and LauncherOne just after rocket separation on a previous flight | Image: Virgin Orbit

This afternoon, small satellite launcher Virgin Orbit successfully lofted seven tiny satellites into orbit around Earth, marking the third successful mission for the Virgin Galactic spinoff company. The payloads consisted of various research satellites for the Department of Defense, along with three small satellites from companies SatRevolution and Spire Global.

The launch comes less than a week after Virgin Orbit's stock began publicly trading for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange. Virgin Orbit announced in August its plan to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, making it one of three …

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Virgin Galactic to send its first sweepstakes winner to space

2021-11-24T13:40:09-05:00

On Wednesday, Virgin Galactic announced its first sweepstakes winner that the space tourism company is sending to space. The winner, Keisha S. (her last name is being withheld by the company), is a health coach from Antigua and Barbuda. She will be the first person from the Caribbean islands to visit space and hopes to bring her daughter, who studies astrophysics, on the spacecraft with her as her guest.

"I've always had a lifelong love of flying and a fascination with space."

"I've always had a lifelong love of flying and a fascination with space," Keisha said in a press release. "This is truly a dream come true for me."

The sweepstakes wa …

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Virgin Galactic sells 100 tickets to space at higher price after reopening sales

2021-11-08T17:31:18-05:00

Space tourism venture Virgin Galactic says that 100 people purchased more expensive tickets to fly on the company's suborbital spaceplane after it reopened ticket sales this August. That means that the company has roughly 700 ticket holders now for quick tourist trips to space, about 300 less than the 1,000 tickets Virgin Galactic is hoping to sell ahead of starting commercial flights of its vehicles. The company announced the news during its third-quarter earnings release out on Monday.

Though Virgin Galactic still has more tickets it aims to sell, the company says the additional sales from this quarter were better than expected. "We're se …

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FAA clears Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo for flight after probe into July incident

2021-09-29T18:46:51-04:00

Virgin Galactic is cleared to resume flights of its SpaceShipTwo space plane, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Wednesday, after capping a safety investigation into issues that came up during the company's July flight carrying its founder Richard Branson. During that mission, SpaceShipTwo strayed from its designated airspace on its descent from space, and Virgin Galactic didn't tell the FAA about it when it was supposed to.

With the investigation now closed, the FAA required Virgin Galactic to make changes "on how it communicates to the FAA during flight operations to keep the public safe," it said in a statement. Virgin Galact …

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FAA grounds Virgin Galactic’s core spaceship pending probe into Richard Branson’s flight

2021-09-02T16:41:12-04:00

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo is grounded until the Federal Aviation Administration completes and signs off on an investigation into the company's high-profile test flight carrying Richard Branson, the agency said Thursday. During that July flight, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo veered out of its approved airspace on its descent toward land, the FAA said.

The company "may not return the SpaceShipTwo vehicle to flight until the FAA approves the final mishap investigation report or determines the issues related to the mishap do not affect public safety," an FAA spokesperson said on Thursday. SpaceShipTwo, a winged suborbital space tourism pl …

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