Virgin Galactic completes 4th successful flight in 4 months

Written by Copernical Team Monday, 11 September 2023 12:01

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Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 11, 2023

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) has reported the completion of its second private 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 Compan

Commercial UAV Expo | Sept 5-7, 2023 | Las Vegas

Virgin Galactic completes 4th successful flight in 4 months
by Staff Writers
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 11, 2023

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) has reported the completion of its second private 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 astronaut mission in August.

Onboard 'Galactic 03':

Astronaut 014 Ken Baxter from the United States of America

Astronaut 015 Timothy Nash from South Africa, and British Citizen

Astronaut 016 Adrian Reynard from the United Kingdom

Spaceship VSS Unity was piloted by Commander Nicola Pecile and Pilot Michael Masucci; Chief Astronaut 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.